 For In the Zone, Spears worked with hit producers such as Bloodshy & Avant, R. Kelly, Diddy, Christopher Stewart, Moby, Guy Sigsworth and The Matrix. She first started writing songs for In the Zone during the Dream Within a Dream Tour. Spears commented about writing while touring, "The only thing that was scary to me is that I didn ’ t know if they were good. [But] You can ’ t trust anybody. You have to go with your feelings." Spears commented that she was an autobiographical songwriter, although not to the point she felt self-exploited. Following the end of the tour, Spears invited her friend and backing vocalist Annet Artani to her home in Los Angeles. They started writing songs at the piano, and shortly after, they traveled to Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy. Among the tracks they worked on was "Everytime", which Artani confirmed to be written as a response to Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River", as well as "Shine", written by Spears about her sister Jamie Lynn, which was left unfinished. Earnest recording of the album began in May 2003. Spears commented that although she did not know initially what direction she wanted to go with the album, she took time to work with different producers and to find those who she had chemistry with. The first song recorded for In the Zone was "Touch of My Hand", and Spears said it "really did provide a balance for the rest of the record. We just went from there." Following the recording sessions for "Everytime", Spears complimented Sigsworth, saying, "I just basically told him exactly how I wanted the song to sound. And he was so amazing because there's a lot of producers you tell them things and they don 't get it. And you're like oh, that's not the right way. He got it just right. He was amazing."
