I'm firing up the ol blog engine and I figure the best way to get the sparks flying is by writing about how I write. Firstly and foremostly, it's a mess. I'm specifically talking about my songwriting. It's a jumbled word vomiting mess of ideas. I used to think that I was more inspired when I was a teenager, but when I go back and look at that material it is generally terrible and made no sense at all. I had no idea what I was doing and I was WAY too judgemental of everything that I wrote.
One book that helped me with brainstorming and not judging myself is Lynda Barry's book "What It Is." I recommend this book to any writer, painter, or really anyone else who is looking to get some ideas out. One way her methods are different is that they are all based on images and memories. I swear that some of her exercises have me recalling very specific details that I had no idea I still had in my brain at all. Of all of the books I'll be talking about in my next few blogs, Lynda's is the most fun. It's like a grown up comic book. Every page is jammed packed with drawings and ideas. But you don't have to take my word for it!
On a side note "What It Is" can actually be seen in one my videos. In the first few seconds of my video for "Leave It All Behind" the actors can be seen reading it on the couch. On the video shoot that day they were all talking about how cool it was. Can you say product placement!
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