8 January 2001
Inspiration

Who writes my songs?

Creative processes are always strange that way. I can claim that I do the writing, but it's not completely within my control -- not even mostly in my control. I write songs when something else decides that I can. A few years ago I tried to write one song a day for a week, and not only did it produce 100% scrap metal, it felt brutal. It seems I must be gentle with my muse.

I'm still not sure how I would feel about that fickle creature providing my sole source of income. Does inspiration come more readily when one works with music full-time? It's where I'm placing my bets, where all artists do, but I really don't know. It's rather surprising, really, that more of us don't have shrines to our personal gods of creativity. It's one thing to wake up every morning and remember your bar chords, as you certainly should after so many years of practice, and quite another to wake up ready to add something new and good to the world. Some kind of prayer is in order for the latter.

- VT