This is a follow up to my last update on the book. The book is going well! Last time I said I wasn’t sure I would need three months of 1000 words-a-day writing to create the first rough draft. Well, I was right. A week ago I realized I was done with the initial phase, which was a “dump” of ideas onto a Pages document on my computer. This week I went through my ideas, labelling each idea segment and creating a table of contents using bookmarks at the top…
Category: Creativity Topics
Day 287: Film Scoring Update (What I’m Learning)
I have done three film scoring projects so far: “Captain America,” “The Three Musketeers,” and most recently, “The Passion of Joan of Arc“. These are the lessons I am getting, in no particular order:
Day 280: The Book (Update #1)
Okay, so I started writing the draft of my book nineteen days ago. I know this because I committed to writing 1000 words a day, and I have 19,000 words written 🙂 Am I proud of my ability to pursue my goal with machine-like consistency? You bet! Even more importantly, I feel totally aligned with this project. It dropped from the ether like ripe fruit ready to pluck. It passes my satisfaction “sniff test:” it is hell yes, a total match, a no-brainer, and it makes me feel alive! Writing…
Day 264: Let’s Do This!
As I mentioned last time, I am now writing a book 🙂 It is about piano playing and shall incorporate my teaching and playing experience. I’m sure it will also draw from core concepts about happiness I write about in this blog. My plan for writing the book has three primary stages. Note: this is a working plan. I reserve the write to change my mind or make adjustments as I go! But that’s nothing new. Anywhere, here are the three stages: More about each stage: Stage One: Write the…
Day 263: The Triumph of My Space Unconditional
This morning I went to the cafe, “my” cafe, and I had a glorious time, sitting, writing and receiving inspiration. In the process, I got clarity for an idea I have been thinking about for a long time. It’s the idea of writing a book, specifically a book about piano playing. It will draw from my teaching and playing experiences as well as the philosophy of personal happiness I write about on this blog. As I sat there relishing this idea whose time I feel has come, I felt a…
Day 261: Sidestepping the Worry Rabbit Hole
I am having a lot of fun working on my latest film scoring project. Meanwhile, I’m taking some orchestration and music production courses on Udemy. Gradually, I’m learning about the world of film scoring and gaining skill at doing it. Admittedly, a couple of times it has started to feel a bit overwhelming. My mind started chattering at me:: “What connections do you have to become a film composer? (None!). How much do you know about orchestration? (Not enough!)” Then doubt creeps in. “It just seems too hard!” Fortunately I…
Day 258: Composition Train Next Stop, Film Scoring!
Last year I wrote a lot of compositions. Roughly a hundred and fifty, judging by my Apple Music playlist, minus a few compositions that showed up in multiple versions. The game I started last June was simple: each day I would write a new composition on Logic Pro. The composition had to be at least 1 minute long, and I had to export into into my Apple Music playlist. I often exceeded one minute, but this was a good low bar to keep things manageable. I took anywhere from 20…
Day 254: How I Sit Down to Write
(Note: there is some R-rated language in this post) When it comes to sitting down to write, I have an approach that helps me get my ideas out easily, going from a typically nebulous, unfocused state to the beauteous writing you see before you 🙂 For starters, I learned a long time ago to trust the process of clearing my mind on the page to help me access ideas. For many years, following Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way,” I wrote daily morning pages in which I scribbled whatever thoughts came…
Day 237: To My Creative Muses, Surprise Me!
When it comes to creative inspiration, I am very comfortable letting it come to me. I never try to force it. If my head is foggy or I am in not in a good state to receive inspiration, what do I do? I take a break, take a nap, or take a walk. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t worry about it. These blog posts are a good case in point. It is 10:36am right now as I first start typing these notes out. This is pretty early in…
Day 224: What I Love About Scoring for Film
Yesterday I shared a new scoring project I did for a TV clip dated 1944 of “Captain America.” I found this project very energizing and wanted to write in more detail what I loved about it. What I Loved About This Project