The Writing Process

No, not the high school bullshit researchreviseresearchheadexplodes writing process. My writing process. My inspiration. I am a mess. Seriously, in the past ten minutes I've probably found snipets (literally, torn pieces of paper and everything) of 3 or 4 songs/poems that I've written and shoved in the pocket of my jeans, just to come home and be like, "Eh, I'll deal with this later." Not to mention the group stored in my phone that I tend to forget about.

So I'm sitting in bed with my guitar trying to assemble something, fill in gaps, figure out what works with which melody, tone, etc. It's frustrating. Not to mention that the inspiration comes from people and places and everything all at once in a jumbled mess. Like, if I want to write a song about someone, I don't want them to have to share it with someone else, but, simultaneously, it might not be clicking. And I don't believe that when you write for yourself (as in something not required), that you can half-ass anything. You become the only person you're letting down if you think what you've created sounds like shit. Honestly, this is probably the only situation where I don't take the easy way out.

I like passion. I like when people have something to give a shit about. I don't like people who take art and music as a technical thing. Who is anyone to say that I need X choruses and Y verses. I will put a chorus and verse wherever I see fit, goddammit. And I can barely even talk about rhyming: it has a time and place. Don't make a list of words that rhyme, make the lines evolve around that; you will sound like Dr. Seuss. If you can't think of something that sounds good, then it's just not going to happen. And it's not just the rhyme that can affect how it sounds. If your voice isn't singing it right, then it isn't going to sound right. If you listen to Paranoia in B Major by The Avett Brothers, there's a line that says, "And if love is a game, girl, then you're gonna win./I'll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in." Just reading that I don't think it sounds good, but when he sings it, you can feel the passion in the words. He means what he's saying, and I firmly believe that that is one of the key factors in quality writing.

Okay, I've satisfied my need to vent. Maybe tomorrow I'll get something recorded and post it. Unlikely, but perhaps.