Student Blog: Not Judging The Creative Process

Not judging the creative process is probably one of the hardest things to do as an artist. At AMDA I have the option to either continue my musical theatre classes all throughout or take commercial music classes as an alternative. As much as I love musical theatre, I wanted to learn more about pop, rock, and country etc. and how to find my sound in those specific genres. I've been taking commercial music classes since my 5th semester and I'm now in my 7th. I am so glad I took this route because I gotten to live in so many different genres of music! While delving into the commercial music world, I noticed my tendency to judge my original work and my own creative process. Currently I'm taking a course called original content creation. Which is exactly like it sounds. I've been writing music since I was little (not necessarily good music, I think I still have a lyric sheet I wrote when I was 8 about a rabbit, cute but I was no Taylor Swift). As I got older and started getting somewhere with my music, the thought of putting it out there made me nervous.

"What if it isn't good enough? Or even just judging it in it's very beginning stages. In this class I have to write my own piece and the most valuable thing I have learned so far is that your first draft is not your last draft. Think of my delightful face in the first photo as the first draft and the second the last draft. I ended up writing okayish lyrics that I brought in but I had a melody I was really happy with. After 4 weeks of working on it, I now also have lyrics I'm happy with. Prior to that I was frustrated for a good week and half of trying to make those lyrics "perfect" (which they never became because nothing can ever be perfect). If I had just allowed the time to let my piece grow without rushing myself to make something, this process would have gone a lot smoother. If you're creating something, it doesn't always come to you right away but that doesn't mean it won't come to you.

After many semesters of creating my own work I've found something that works for me. If I'm writing a piece, I start with something that happened (either that day or in my life). I then write that story down on paper just like it happened. Then I look at everything I wrote down and pick sentences or words that really get to the root of what I'm trying to say. As I continue studying those words, ideas begin to spark for lyrics. There's no right or wrong way to go about these kinds of things. Find your process and don't judge your work before it's even began. I know that Handel wrote the original version of Messiah in only 24 days but that was his process.

There's so many ways to go about it so you can experiment and see what works for you! Continue creating and being patient with yourself, allowing yourself space and time to create makes a huge difference!