I remember someone telling me that Prince wrote a song a day and kept all his unreleased material in a secure vault. Aside from being worried that others would steal his material, I imagine the main reason he went through such great lengths to keep these songs safe is that some of them were downright awful. Maybe not, but a song a day? I am acquainted with a few creative geniuses and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need some downtime in order to maintain consistency.
Some people are like Prince and pump out art as soon as it’s conceived. Others take their time on everything. Some are happy to show off everything they make while others are total perfectionists. I personally like to just go with what feels right, which is different every time.
Being like Prince helps to keep your creative channels open, but it also puts a strain on your imagination and can make art feel like work if it isn’t flowing and you force it. I’d like to be like Prince whenever I feel stuck, force myself to write SOMETHING. But really, if I feel like I’m maki progress on something, I don’t feel the need to do that.
Some of my songs take forever. There is one in particular song that took six years to write. Actually most songs take me over a year to write. I write a part of the song, or just the melody and then I feel I’m not happy with any changes or additions to the song and so I wait a few days or weeks and try again.
One reason it takes me so long is that I have a lot of things going on at any given time. I don’t only see myself as a musician, music is just one form of art that I work with and even art is just one way of expressing myself and being who I am. I usually have these 20-40 minute periods of intense inspiration where I am fully focused and excited. I do what I can and as I start to feel the intensity of that inspiration wear off, I put what I’m working on away and change what I’m doing. I can jump from writing a song to writing a story to planning some event or initiative to engaging at steemit to going out and enjoying surroundings.
Sometimes I wish I could focus on one thing for hours on end like some artists. Perhaps I’ll be able to do that some day but for now I am happy with my mode of work.
I would love to hear about your creative process on the comments, so feel free to share.
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Confessions of the Damaged - a collection of short stories
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