Country singer Trisha Yearwood has hit back at accusations she's not a "real artist" because she doesn't write her own songs - insisting music greats like Patsy Cline never composed their own hits.

The Grammy-winning star reveals she gave up songwriting after trying and failing to be creative as a kid.

But Yearwood insists she shouldn't be criticized for her lack of writing skills, because she is in good company.

She says, "I've been criticized before. (People say), 'She's not a real artist because she doesn't write her own songs.' When you get through listening to Patsy Cline singing I Fall to Pieces, you (don't) think if she'd only written it, you know it wouldn't had so much more emotion.

"If I could write a song like that I would record it, but most of my stuff is really bad poetry I wrote in high school that will never ever see the light of day."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)