I know I said that I would upload the second part of the second blog within a day, but I always get enthusiastic about something and then get into it and realise I want to do it well.
So for the sake of quality over deadline (just like with my next record), I’m going to take my time (but not too much time I promise) and upload the next installment when it is up to meeting your critical discernment.
Within a few days, methinks.
PROCESS – Part I
This blog will be about the actual writing process, with all its peaks and valleys, frustration and elation. I’ll cover inspiration, beginning a song and crafting a song .
I originally had elements such as melody and lyric as part of the ‘craft’ section of this blog, but in getting to it discovered there was so much I wanted to cover that I realised they were asking for their own blog (I plan to post that one within a day of this, so you won’t have to wait another six weeks!).
The creative process differs hugely from person to person, and even varies from work to work, piece to piece. I am not theorising about everyone else’s process, I’m simply trying to unpack my own for the amusement of any who may be interested. Happy reading (hope you’re in a comfy chair!)…
In this blog I’ll discuss the foundation on which your songs are built. Whether you like it or not, there is one, and it’s you. Your worldview, your motives, your ‘issues’ are indelibly marked on everything you create in your life – whether it’s a song or a conversation or a Tweet. Being aware of your headspace and internal-environment goes a long way to understanding why you are or aren’t writing the type of songs you’d like to.
Over the past few years, many of you have written to me and said you would appreciate it if at some point I could share a little about songwriting. It isn’t something I’ve written about before, and as much as I enjoy blogging about everything non-music related, for some reason now feels like the right time to bring this wee series to the table. This certainly isn’t an objective study on the theme – what I write here will be subjective, personal, completely taken from my own journey as a writer. I’m in no way attempting to table a thesis here or pretend I’m some sort of expert, which I absolutely am not. So with that cleared up, on we go. ☺
I thought it might be interesting to have a bit of an interactive Q&A blog…
read more
Hey everyone…
As you may have picked up from Twitter, I have been at home attempting to write over the past few weeks but thus far have been railroaded by sickness. I am often in the northern hemisphere around this time of year and miss out on the season entirely, so I must admit that some twisted part of me is enjoying the full winter experience of scarves, soups and sniffles. Nothing like being snuggled up in bed with a laptop and “Legends of the Fall” (I know Susannah’s life goes downhill when she marries Alfred, but her wardrobe is incredible).
Today I’m out of bed and in my friend Gareth’s underground studio/office thing hoping the change of scenery will inspire. I just had a good bash at a few ideas I have on the go and got annoyed so now I’m writing this blog (which is work-related so it’s still work) before I’ll re-open garageband and try again. I have been working on a few other blogs for a few weeks now, about journalling and songwriting and such, but my mind-spew is a thing which must be allowed into the public space in mitigated portions and I haven’t had the opportunity to mitigate as yet.
In the past I have promised that this will be the place to find exclusive things, us leaking you info/sneak peeks etc… So, keeping true to my word, I have a little something for you (I might get in trouble for this but who cares)…
Hi all,
A few of you have been asking me to blog on songwriting and I’ve been working on a blog around that topic for about six weeks now, but it was becoming a novel of tangents and I’ve decided there’s too much to put in a single entry.
SO I’m going to write a little songwriting-blog-mini-series for you split into three umbrellas. They are as follows:
Well, we seem to be off and running with this blog thingee. Thanks to all of you who are leaving comments and enjoying the blogs – keep your feedback comin’! On this note… we want you to know that all your comments are read then approved, with the occasional one edited by our BF team to keep the site as user-friendly as possible. I.e. If you write “I really like this blog, it reminded me of when my Grandmother made apricot slice and we danced in the sun. BONE THUGS ‘N HARMONY 4EVA YEAH DAWG”, (for example) we might edit the last sentence out. People from all walks of life view this blog and are part of our little web community, so if you are passionate about Bone Thugs (I know I am) that’s cool… but maybe you don’t need to constantly refer to Bone Thugs and include it in your sign off etc, if you catch my drift. We want people who don’t like Bone Thugs to feel comfortable here. 
Also, there are still a few little technical bugs we’re ironing out (i.e. right now all the entries aren’t archiving for some reason… to see older entries, instead of going to archives, for now just go to the bottom of the page and click on “Older Entries” in the bottom left hand corner), so bear with us. If you see a blog or something with a technical error, just leave a comment on it noting the problem, and our team will get on it.
That’s all for now… We’re working on some new video/written blog content for uploading soon, so keep coming back! You will probably have clicked onto the fact that I’m no longer in North Carolina, but the hours of semi-usable footage I handed to our “editor” (aka my husband) are going to take a bit of time to edit into bite sized chunks!
BONE THUGS 4EVA. Oops.
p.s. The reactions to this blog have forced me to add this post-script. I’M NOT REALLY TALKING ABOUT BONE THUGS. Just read a little further between the lines.
