How are fiction writers like jazz musicians?
Yesterday, I wrote this post about how complicated writing fiction can be.
Today, however, I’m going to "jazz" things up a little. Back when I was in high school, I played the electric guitar in my school’s jazz band. Every few months we’d put on a concert (about a handful each school year).
During each performance, several of the songs we played would require a solo section. And the band director would pick people at random to play these solos. Playing a solo involved improvising. The notes weren’t written out and you basically had to follow the chord changes, in the right key and make the solo sound somewhat good.
Being asked to perform a solo in front of an audience was something I dreaded. But those who could improvise really well gave solos that were, in many cases, better than the actual song!
What does a jazz band concert have to do with writing?
Writing fiction is like improvising at a jazz concert. When you sit down to write, you just let the words come out and you don’t think "Okay, I need a verb here or a strong adjective there." Once you know the structure of writing and the structure of your story/novel, the writing itself just kind of happens. During a solo in jazz, the musician that is improvising doesn’t think about the mechanics of playing or the structure of the song. Hopefully, he/she will have practiced enough that the song comes naturally and playing an improvised solo is second nature.
This post is going to be one of my you-should-just-write-and-worry-about-it-later rants. It’s easy, for writers especially, to get caught up with the details – the nitty gritty of fiction that makes it hard to write, but such a joy to read. While those details are very important and can mean the difference between a great story and a poor one, when you are actually writing, they should be in the back of your mind. When you edit later on (you do edit, right?) is the time for picking apart every word and sentence to make sure it fits into the scope of your project.
Practice, practice, practice
Before I wrap things up, there is one more important thing writers and jazz musicians have in common: Practice! They both must practice constantly. For the writer, that means writing no matter what, even when not feeling inspired. Sure, you’re not always going to churn out stuff that people will call genius. But musicians play scales over and over again – not the most inspiring music but it gives them a foundation on which to build.
Also, when you are writing one of those short stories that just doesn’t feel very inspired, keep at it and figure out why. If you can learn even one thing from a crummy writing project, then it should be considered a success.
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