Writing as Jazz, Jazz as Writing: Part 9
Words of writing wisdom gleaned from some jazz greats.
Words of writing wisdom gleaned from some jazz greats.
Because I have a musical background, I often think about writing through a variety of musical lenses.
Writing as classical music with its sonata form and three act structure.
Writing as rock music with its raw power of emotion.
Writing as country music with its love of character-driven stories.
Writing as hip hop with its embrace of the poetry of storytelling.
But if I had to choose one musical genre which best fits what we do as writers, it would be jazz.
Why? Because every time we sit down to write, we have to do two fundamental things:
- Write in the moment
- Improvise
Every scene exists in our present tense. We have to be right there with our characters to experience the story unfolding in ‘The Now’.
Every time a jazz musician performs live, they exist in the moment. They find the spark of creativity by playing off each other and giving themselves over to every second of the songs they perform.
Likewise whenever we sit down to write, no matter how much of the story we’ve figured out, we have to give room for spontaneity and to improvise when our characters veer over here or there.
So, too, jazz musicians whose lifeblood is improvisation, making it up as they go along, pushing the envelope, and testing each song in nightly performance.
That inspired me to do a series this week featuring quotes from some of the all-time great jazz players.
Today: Charles Mingus.
Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.
This reminds me of a couple of things. First is a great quote from screenwriter Billy Ray:
“At the top of my computer in big, bold letters, it says, ‘What is the simple emotional journey?’ I look at that all the time.”
Then my own observation:
Simple plot. Complicated characters.
We may think of a complicated story as being somehow ‘better’, ‘deeper,’ or ‘smarter’ than a simple story.
But what if Mingus is right? ‘Creativity is making the complicated simple’?
What if Billy Ray’s goal — ‘What is the simple emotional journey?’ — is the key to better, deeper, and smarter stories.
What if we are better served to zero in on a simple plot and let the characters carry the story’s complexities?
What if?
This is a great video: A 1960 performance featuring Charlie Mingus with the great pianist Bud Powell.
Previous posts in this series:
I hope you’ve enjoyed the series. If you’d like more, I’ve got more. Let me know in RESPONSES.