November 2004
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 9, No. 11
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, November 7th 2004
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Happy Turkey! Yes, this is in order. My
how time flies. This also means Christmas
shopping time. How well I remember all those busy, happy days. Take note, go for it. Enjoy it. I try not to envy those of you this all applies to. Forgive me if I’m sounding a bit lonely. But I’m just enjoying my memories. This newsletter is supposed to be joyful, happy, so I’ll just take a few deep breaths and fall in with you.
I do enjoy our Christmas party every year. I get to see all of you, and love it when you come up with great Christmas songs. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all of this televised or something? By the way, I want you to feel free to call me if you need piano accompaniment. I’ll be glad to have you come to my home if you’d like me to play piano on your tape.
Goodness, it looks like I’m a month ahead. This should all be in the December issue of the newsletter rather than the November one. Hey, I wrote a seasons song last year. It has the same tune but it can be about either Thanksgiving or Christmas. If I can find it, I’ll play if for you at the party. Matt and I have discussed having the Christmas party as part of the meeting this year (December 5th). So after a brief meeting, it will be party time! We can discuss details at the meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday, November 7th.
Best ever,
Russ Robinson
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Creating a Creative Safe Zone
By Matt Griffin
I’m taking an interesting class at my church called “Creative Safe Zone”. Basically it’s two hours a week where creative folks create, without threat of judgment. That means, we cannot offer any opinion or pass judgment about anyone’s creative work (writing, artwork, etc.) including our own. The idea is that creative inspiration comes from God, and who are we to judge what God has created?
Even if you set the religious part of it aside, the idea has merit on its own. I think we all, as creative people, are far too quick to judge our own work. And yet, judge it we must. Every month we have a critique session and do exactly that: we judge and critique and score each other’s original songs. How can we reconcile these two seemingly conflicting ideas?
Each of us has a voice inside us, critiquing virtually everything we do. It’s so pervasive that I think it must be hard-wired in our brains. I was going to call him the Judge, but that sounds a little harsh; let’s call him the Editor. The Editor certainly has a place in a creative soul; we have to be able to evaluate our own work (hopefully objectively) in order to improve. Leonardo da Vinci must have painted a lot of crap before he created the Mona Lisa. To me, the Editor is a necessary collaborator in the creative process. The important issue is this: when do you let him into the room?
I suspect that most of us let the Editor in far too early, perhaps at the earliest stages of creating something. I think it’s a mistake, and yet I’m as guilty as anyone else. But I’m convinced that the purest, most natural creative works are made when the Editor is out taking a bathroom break. I think that each of us needs a Creative Safe Zone, a place (or time) where the Editor is not welcome. Whether you choose to assign religious meaning to the process of creative inspiration is up to you.
A lot of writing classes encourage new writers to write every day in stream-of-consciousness fashion. I think that makes a lot of sense; why not give it a try? Try writing (music, words, whatever suits you) for an hour, leaving the Editor locked in the bathroom. And when it’s time to look over what you’ve written and see if you have anything that might make the next hit song, then I guess you’d better let him out.
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October 2004 Top Five
(1) You Took Dan Cook
(2) Magic Strings Carlos Colon
(3) tie Dreamy Grey Eyes Emil Ernyey
(3) tie Look Out Friend Dan Cook
(5) Come On Over Dale Cunningham and Melanie Jackson
© 2004 ISG