More than a few would-be composers or songwriters have high standards, many are perfectionists. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It is a good thing in that it often drives them to try and write something better, or improve upon what they have written.
The bad part is getting discouraged, especially early in the game. The inner critic (and the outer critics) can be devastating, and some never can get past that early stage. Realistically, many of my pieces are below par. Many still are, even after over 10 years of songwriting. However, that's true of most songwriters, and composers, even many commercially successful ones, even many critically acclaimed ones.
Only the true geniuses at the top of the apex will have all their catalog as worth listening to or performing. And even there, some work is usually clearly better than others. That top group is maybe 0.0001% of all composers and songwriters. If a beginner aspires to match that level of quality, good luck. It might happen, but the odds are against it. A person won't know if they give up, and they won't know if they don't try. One piece, or ten or 20 might not be enough to know much.
I encourage anyone reading to keep writing. Again, I suggest dedicating an hour a day to writing music, just like many beginning piano students do to learning to play the instrument. Spend that time actually writing music, not studying other people's work or books on theory. At the end of the month, I guarantee that progress will be made. If a beginner does an hour a day for three months or longer, they will likely amaze themselves at how far they have traveled.
Again, my process involves: playing, recording, listening, selecting the best from that, and working on embellishing and developing that bit. There are any number of other ways to work on the task. Mozart wrote away from the instrument, as do some others. Some use a notebook, some use a recording device, some use both. Some use software and rarely touch an instrument.
Let go of the inner critic and as legendary songwriter Joni Mitchell put it, "let the blarney flow." If Mitchell had listened to some of her early critics, she might have quit or become conformist and denied the world a great artist.
