The painter Chuck Close says, “Inspiration is for amateurs – the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of […]
The painter Chuck Close says, “Inspiration is for amateurs – the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of […]
I recently ran into a songwriter who told me proudly, “I’ve written over a thousand songs.” This writer is talented. I’ve heard her songs, and I remember them as well-crafted […]
Let’s agree that the most basic job of the songwriter is to make the listener feel something. But let’s say you’re writing about your own feelings—how do you tell someone your heart […]
The other day, I was talking about this blog of mine with a songwriting friend who had happened to read a few entries. He commented that my writing was somehow […]
I think it’s really important for human beings—not just songwriters—to be as honest with themselves as possible about everything, but especially their own motives for doing things. It’s difficult to […]
Musings on craft versus intuition… Some people think songs just “happen”, that they just ooze out of the songwriter. There are lots of songwriters who are suspicious of those who […]
It is probably not helpful to gleefully tell you “ideas can come from anywhere!” ( “Um, thanks, Blair, that really narrows it down,” I hear you muttering.) But the thing […]