We were all in the East High Theater and Tim Federle, the creator of the show, approached Olivia and I and said, ‘Hey, I know this is a wild idea – it’s very early in the process – but there might be a slot where you two could submit a song. There are no promises, but I just want to plant the seed in your head now.’ So Olivia and I literally turned around that minute, I grabbed my guitar, we sat down and we just started pumping out ideas. Writing it down, everything we could think of and then we’d come back every five minutes and say, ‘I thought of this.’

– Joshua, via Entertainment Tonight

Olivia and Joshua spent weeks working on multiple song ideas before deciding on “Just for a Moment,” which was written in a matter of days. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Olivia explained the process:

It was strange because we wrote the song before we filmed episode nine. We didn’t totally know what was going on with the characters when we wrote it, but our showrunner, creator Tim Federle walked us through [it]. It’s a really special experience … because I feel like nobody is going to know the character as well as we do … We were there for their creation, we make them who they are and we’re literally living their lives all the time. To get to write from that perspective was really great, and I think the song turned out better because we had that background knowledge.

I’m so inspired by Josh and I think he’s such a great songwriter, and to co-write with him was really a wonderful experience. It’s something I wouldn’t trade for the world. We’re also both really strong-willed and we’re both used to writing on our own. Having to compromise on things and be able to speak your mind. I remember thinking that he was so brilliant and I was like, “What if I throw out this idea and he doesn’t think it’s good?” But we totally got over that so quick. I don’t know if it was a really easy experience, per se, but it was so worthwhile and it was meant to be.

A demo version of “Just for a Moment” was recorded by alternate vocalists to mask its connection to Olivia and Joshua, and was then submitted to Disney for consideration. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Joshua talked about how it felt to have the song chosen:

We got the news a few weeks later [that it was chosen], which was just the most surreal thing in the world … I think it was both of our first times being legitimized as songwriters professionally, because we’ve been both writing on our own. And to actually have that on paper, to be able to prove that we did that was just a dream come true.