A Writing Tip

Songwriting not different than other writing in many regards

I just read this post on Wil Wheaton’s blog, and point #4 stood out to me.

4. Don’t show your work to anyone until the first draft is done. Don’t even excerpt little bits and put them on your blog. I put about 30 words from House of Cards online, and I lost all of my momentum as a result. I’m not sure why this happens, but it really sucks when it does.

Jimmy Webb said much the same thing in his book. I’ve found it to be completely true. If I tell someone, “I’ve had an idea for a song about such-and-such,” it’s done, gone, goodbye.

Here is one commenter’s explanation, along with a point about why you can’t critique yourself while you write.

Re #4: this is actually explained in Dorothea Brande’s “Becoming a Writer.” She says the momentum comes from the desire to tell your story to someone. Once you’ve told someone—even just told them ABOUT your story—that desire is satisfied. Hence, no more motivation.

It’s a great book. Written long before we knew anything about right brain/left brain, the book explains exactly why you have to keep “generating new content” clearly separated from “editing/criticizing content.”

So if I don’t tell you what I’m working on, don’t take it personally. Heck, I don’t like being secretive, I’d much rather be open about everything, but if I did that, I’d not get any songs written or done. So enjoy them when I present them!

Thu, 2008 08 28 at 2:06 PM |Permalink for this entry

27 August 2008 - Lookin’ for love

A recurring case of GAS

[For those of you who don't know, GAS is Gear Acquisition Syndrome.]

Yesterday was mostly a bust. I had a dental appointment in the AM and then I took a trip to a big box musical instrument (MI) store, which will otherwise remain unnamed. There's this stage piano that I've been wanting, and I have an opportunity to get it at a really good price. Most of the times I've tried it out, I've really loved it. Not necessarily for the sounds, but for the action. It is very hard to duplicate the feel of a real grand piano, especially when you don't want to go overboard on weight nor cost. This keyboard may have hit the mark.

But, I've read some recent reports where some have complained about the action having a very hard feel when you hit bottom. I never felt this, until yesterday. I compared the keyboard's action to several other ones in the store, and it definitely felt harder. I don't know if because of playing with the band or something like that, my technique has gotten harder, or I've somehow gotten more sensitive to the bottoming. Sometimes after playing with the band, I have had some pain in the joints of my fingers on my right hand. I think this was due to pounding too hard to try to be louder. If this keyboard does have this issue, then playing on it could make the problem worse for me if I'm not careful.

I'm really looking for a keyboard that I love to play. What I have now I like a lot, but I've loved this action the times it felt right to me. Now, I'm thrown off by my experience from yesterday as well as the similar reports from others. So I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go try it again today and see if I feel any better about it.

Thu, 2008 08 28 at 10:07 AM |Permalink for this entry