Lindsay Bloom will perform at Indy Hostel Oct. 13. (Submitted photo for The Star)

When singer-songwriter Lindsay Bloom, 26, sings "but I can't forget how you make me feel / how you make me melt" in a plaintive voice on her track "Worth It," she means it.

"I can't make up lyrics," Bloom said. "Sometimes people are scared to write with that much honesty. I don't leave out facts because I'm scared about what people would think."

With a style that's more Michelle Branch than Bob Dylan, Bloom sits down to write songs from the heart. Her creations are usually about relationships, and sometimes the words come easier when she's upset, which can make it hard to perform live.

"Every time I play onstage, I go back to the time I wrote (the song)," Bloom said. "The other problem I run into is, if I don't feel that way anymore, I can't sing it."

One of her favorite songs of the moment is "Worth It," which Bloom considers her most commercial song. Her preferred music to listen to is by female songwriters, and she cites such radio successes as Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos and Lisa Loeb as favorites. One day, Bloom hopes to be as successful as her favorite singers, though it wasn't always her goal. A Cleveland native who moved to Indianapolis for a day job two years ago, Bloom started singing at the age of 4 and got a guitar and started writing songs in high school.

After a deal with an independent record label fell through when Bloom was in college, she gave up music temporarily, feeling burnt out on the process.

Now, Bloom has rededicated herself to music by recording, playing shows, and writing songs. She said she doesn't want to just play in coffeehouses forever and that she wants to have mainstream appeal. For her, the switch back to playing music was natural.

"I can't not do it," Bloom said. "I'll be just driving in the car sometimes and melodies and song lyrics come into my head . . .. I just feel like I have to try; this is the one thing that I'm so passionate about."