On doing whatever it takes to get the song done
I know that Hadestown is—and this goes for any creative endeavor, I reckon—so much more than what meets the eye or the ear. What is seen and heard onstage is the blooming flower, but most of the plant is underground. Every line, verse, or chorus—every idea any of us who worked on it ever had, even the ones that never saw the light of day—they’re do
... See moreAnaïs Mitchell • Working on a Song
I was with some friends, and we were producing music yesterday. We had a song, and we were like, "Not that." To go from "maybe we have..." We like the chorus, we like the verse, but we're not sure what to have as a bridge. We only know what shouldn't be there.
Then to go from there and somehow, from some part of yourself, pull out, "Maybe this." May
... See moreIf I don’t have paper handy, I might type notes into my phone or record myself talking so that I don’t lose the language or the idea.
Maggie Smith • Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life
If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Whatever else happens, stay busy. (I always lean on this wise advice, from the seventeenth-century English scholar Robert Burton, on how to survive melancholy: “Be not solitary, be not idle.”) Find something to do—anything, even a different sort of creative work altogether—just to take your mind off your anxiety and pressure. Once, when I was strug
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