The writing, composing, idea generation process progresses in the two stages of action and reflection. According to the book, action is to put words on paper and reflection is to evaluate what you have written. The first day I attended class, I remember Ms. Kim say that songs already exist, we just have to find them. I believe that is a big part of the process as well to tune your heart with Heavens in order to hear the songs that the Lord wants to release through you whether it's for you or for everyone. The crazy idea is the idea that we want! We shouldn't be afraid to write things down. At the end of the book, Pressfield talks about how after he "acts", finally he reflects. He asks himself "What is this about?" Personally, I would interpret that as "What's the point?" or "What point am I trying to make and does it make sense?" After he does this, he fills in the gaps and asks himself "what's missing?" He goes on to say that sometimes the enemy of our writings is ourselves and we hit walls, but crashes can be good. We have to stay motivated and overcome ourselves. This was really encouraging to me because even though everyone has different writing processes, I find that everyone can find a common ground with this book. I definitely have learned from this process because in my personal writings, I tend to write/evaluate at the same time rather than writing writing writing think think think.
The Action-Reflection process is one I find useful. I have found that when I am writing I have to put that line I just though of or heard onto paper immediately or I will lose it forever. I have a notes page on my phone with a bunch of random lines that I though of while out somewhere that I can loo to for inspiration. When writing the words tend to come quickly, but then they lack quality so I benefit greatly from this method. I can write this whole song basically as fast as I can, then go back and fit it all together, give it meaning, and purpose.
This process of Acting, then Reflecting, is quite a simple yet sometimes forgotten process. I am usually doing both at the same time and forget to sit back and reflect on my previous actions. I love part two that Steven shows on this process. When we reflect and ask ourselves questions, this makes our songs that much more stronger. Usually when I write, I do a first draft and make minor changes, which then becomes my final draft. I need to begin doing more of a process with my writing so that I can take my writing to the next level.
Every song starts with an action. Whether that be physically writing and stumbling across the lyrics, singing a catchy melody and expanding on that, or actively taking the time to concentrate on sitting down with no idea in mind and making it a goal to discover a new song. No song will just magically pop into my head while I’m reading for a psychology exam about the many mental brain disorders and brain functions. I have to take the time set aside to uncover something new. I really like what Pressfield said about not censoring yourself because that is something that I don’t really like to do either. Often it doesn’t work out, but then again, some of my best ideas have come from not censoring me.
Sean Kilpatrick “THE PROCESS”! Pressfield presents us with two stages: action and reflection. He goes on to tie "action" with putting words on paper and "reflection" with evaluating what we have on paper. He makes it a strong point to never act and reflect at the same time. I relate this theme to song writing in that sometimes we tend to dissect the lyric as we are writing it. This is one of my bad habits when writing a song. When you analyze as you're writing, you may end up saying something totally different than the original thought called for. This can be extremely counterproductive especially if when you come to a finish and realize what you have is not even close to what you wanted. My favorite quote from this section on the process is, "Our job is not to control our idea; our job is to figure out what our idea is (and wants to be) - and then bring it into being." I trust that remembering that thought will greatly benefit me in the future with every song I write.!
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The writing, composing, idea generation process progresses in the two stages of action and reflection. According to the book, action is to put words on paper and reflection is to evaluate what you have written. The first day I attended class, I remember Ms. Kim say that songs already exist, we just have to find them. I believe that is a big part of the process as well to tune your heart with Heavens in order to hear the songs that the Lord wants to release through you whether it's for you or for everyone. The crazy idea is the idea that we want! We shouldn't be afraid to write things down. At the end of the book, Pressfield talks about how after he "acts", finally he reflects. He asks himself "What is this about?" Personally, I would interpret that as "What's the point?" or "What point am I trying to make and does it make sense?" After he does this, he fills in the gaps and asks himself "what's missing?" He goes on to say that sometimes the enemy of our writings is ourselves and we hit walls, but crashes can be good. We have to stay motivated and overcome ourselves. This was really encouraging to me because even though everyone has different writing processes, I find that everyone can find a common ground with this book. I definitely have learned from this process because in my personal writings, I tend to write/evaluate at the same time rather than writing writing writing think think think.
The Action-Reflection process is one I find useful. I have found that when I am writing I have to put that line I just though of or heard onto paper immediately or I will lose it forever. I have a notes page on my phone with a bunch of random lines that I though of while out somewhere that I can loo to for inspiration. When writing the words tend to come quickly, but then they lack quality so I benefit greatly from this method. I can write this whole song basically as fast as I can, then go back and fit it all together, give it meaning, and purpose.
This process of Acting, then Reflecting, is quite a simple yet sometimes forgotten process. I am usually doing both at the same time and forget to sit back and reflect on my previous actions. I love part two that Steven shows on this process. When we reflect and ask ourselves questions, this makes our songs that much more stronger. Usually when I write, I do a first draft and make minor changes, which then becomes my final draft. I need to begin doing more of a process with my writing so that I can take my writing to the next level.
Every song starts with an action. Whether that be physically writing and stumbling across the lyrics, singing a catchy melody and expanding on that, or actively taking the time to concentrate on sitting down with no idea in mind and making it a goal to discover a new song. No song will just magically pop into my head while I’m reading for a psychology exam about the many mental brain disorders and brain functions. I have to take the time set aside to uncover something new. I really like what Pressfield said about not censoring yourself because that is something that I don’t really like to do either. Often it doesn’t work out, but then again, some of my best ideas have come from not censoring me.
Sean Kilpatrick
“THE PROCESS”!
Pressfield presents us with two stages: action and reflection. He goes on to tie "action" with
putting words on paper and "reflection" with evaluating what we have on paper. He makes it a
strong point to never act and reflect at the same time. I relate this theme to song writing in that
sometimes we tend to dissect the lyric as we are writing it. This is one of my bad habits when
writing a song. When you analyze as you're writing, you may end up saying something totally
different than the original thought called for. This can be extremely counterproductive especially
if when you come to a finish and realize what you have is not even close to what you wanted.
My favorite quote from this section on the process is, "Our job is not to control our idea; our job
is to figure out what our idea is (and wants to be) - and then bring it into being." I trust that
remembering that thought will greatly benefit me in the future with every song I write.!
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