Stuck in a rut

A rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out of it. - Anonymous

I wrote my first song when I was about 14 or so. I had just started playing the piano by ear. I'm not even really sure why I tried. I was never really creative. Art was never my thing. I still struggle with sketching stick figures. It also doesn't help that I am partially color blind. Serious. I can see some of the numbers in those crazy color tests, but not all.

It is kind of ironic that I used to help design trade show displays and graphics when I owned my own exhibit business. Colors galore from here to there and there I was unable to competently distinguish various shades in the Pantone guide. I guess if ineptitude doesn't prevent Congress from working it shouldn't stop me.

Anyway, since I started (and stopped for a while...see here) I have always composed both lyrics and music at the same time. Actually, I wrote one song in the back of my mom's car in about 15 minutes once, but at the time I considered that an anomaly. Other than that I have been semi-stuck in a melody+lyrics rut.

Until now. The last seven months or so since Write About Jesus have been an exceptionally accelerated time of growth for me. Things that never occurred to me in terms of commercial viability, structure, prosody, etc. have sparked an epiphany. Some things I was already doing but didn't know why. Others were totally new to me. Sitting in those classes, learning from the best in the industry ignited a flame deep within me. I realized that, hey, I can do this. With hard work and determination, I believe I will do this well.

I am now a full time songwriter.

I'm not a professional songwriter. I didn't say that. I have never had a cut. (I've not even attempted...yet.) I am consumed with a full time passion to write. I have set aside two evenings every week to work on my craft, even if just for a hour or two. Every day I attempt to do something to further my writing, whether it be studying lyrics & melodies or reading books about songwriting. Will I have to perhaps take a few days off if things get too hectic? Perhaps, but for now I am driven. My focus is not the big hit, not the song that will make me famous, not even a cut. My focus is to craft art that reaches the heart of man and turn his focus to The Artist. Maybe it will be a catchy, uptempo SoGo quartet ditty, or a 6/8 power ballad. Perhaps a simple chorus that will be used in Worship. Maybe a vulnerable song of complete surrender that will verbalize what a prodigal's heart is feeling at the altar. Whatever direction the chase takes me, I am ready.

I got way off track. Oh, yeah...until now. It seems a bit foreign to me to start with lyrics alone. That is exactly what I am going to do. If for no other reason that the simple fact that the thought makes me slightly wary. I'm sure it will bring a whole new dimension to my writing. Or not. I'll never know until I try.

Now back to my rut-less, melody-free corner (dummy melodies excluded, of course)...