

Letter to a Young Songwriter - visakanv
http://www.visakanv.com/blog/2014/08/0152-letter-to-a-young-songwriter/

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merciBien
I like this advice, not only for a young songwriter I know well, but also for
myself as a budding hacker. Too much of my creative energy I spend on doubting
my latest idea, to the point I don't get to implement the code to make it
real. I appreciate the ideas and the energy you put into this post.

~~~
visakanv
Glad to have been of help! Go forth and create, as much as you possibly can.
:-)

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visakanv
I wrote this blogpost for my younger self, and for other young creatives who
might be going through what I did when I was a confused young songwriter
trying to do everything all at once (and tragically doing less than I think I
would've been able to with proper guidiance). I'm sharing on HN because I
think there are some parallels in all creative work, and that some of you may
find some utility in this.

A quick recap/rewrite of this post:

1: _Aim to be prolific_ , rather than “to be great” or “to have fun”. We can
have much more interesting conversations once you have a body of work.

2: _Screw ‘best’._ Avoid trying to write the best possible song. Your
definition of ‘best’ will be a moving target.

3: _Write badly._ Deliberately try to write bad songs, rough songs, strange
and awkward songs. They’ll teach you more than you’ll learn from writing what
you think is “okay”.

4: _Screw originality._ Forsake the quest for originality, it’s a mirage.
Learn other people’s songs as much as you can. Learn songs from genres you
don’t really care for.

5: _Think less, write more._ Don’t try to be smarter by thinking harder. Be
smarter by processing more, recursively. Write new songs. Learn songs you
didn’t know. Learn new chord progressions. Take long walks through unfamiliar
territories.

6: _Play scales._ It’s like learning to play with the underlying code of music
itself. It’ll improve your appreciation of music that you listen to, and it’ll
improve your ability to navigate the music you play.

7: _Play slow._ Don’t rush after music. Immerse yourself in it. Imagine really
bad sex, and then imagine really good sex. What’s the difference? Good music
is like good sex.

8: _Always Be Creating (Or Listening)._ If you’re not doing one of the two,
you’re probably procrastinating. Ask yourself which of the two states you’re
closer to, and dive into that.

