Just Wondering...How Did You Start Writing?

[Writer]

While discussing lyrics in another thread, I remembered how it was that I started writing and I was wondering if anyone had a similar story. I think it would be interesting to know how other writers caught the 'writing bug' if any of you wouldn't mind sharing your story.

 

Here's mine:

 

When I was very young, my mother played a lot of classical and other instrumental music. I made up a game I called 'see the song'. I would close my eyes and try to imagine a story that went to the music, trying to see it in my mind as if I were watching a movie. (We didn't get to watch a lot of movies back then.) As I got older, I started to put lyrics to the stories. When there wasn't music playing, I started with the story and went the other way...adding my own tune. It might not be a very conventional way of writing, but that's how I started writing and still do to this day. With the big difference of adding the edit (and edit and edit) step, ha, ha... When I had my children, I taught them the game of 'see the song'. Sometimes it was a riot to hear the stories that they saw!

 

During my teen years, writing became a way for me to say what I was feeling when I didn't think I could just come out and say it or didn't know exactly how to express my feelings. I had a very strict upbringing and would have been in a world of trouble if I said what I sometimes thought. However, for example, if I disguised my longing to spread my own wings as a song about a bird, I could say whatever I wanted...pretty sneaky, huh? tee, hee...

 

So...who's game? Anyone?

[Matximus]

My story is as boring as anyone elses. I grew up loving music and wanted to express myself and impress girls.

 

I like the way Bob Dylan describes how he started writing. He said he moved away from traditionals to things like "Song For Woody" because it said things that just needed to be said. He HAD to write. I think anone who dabbles in creativity should understand what that feels like. And he doesn't even take credit for writing the masterpieces of his early 20s - he says they were already there and he just channeled them. It was like some Holy Ghost moved him to unearth these artifacts that - he claims - if he didn't dig up, someone else would.

 

It's probably all bull{censored}, but I love how he gets all mystical about the creative spark.

[Lee Knight]

I did an impression of Elvis Costello after hearing his brand new album My Aim is True. I thought the guy was a joke from the cover photo till we put the album on. Whoa. What's this... My band buddies urged me to cover Angels cause I sort of sounded like him. So I started singing in a cover band. I must've been 17.

 

But Costello completely grabbed my imagination. I transcribed all his song lyrics my best and created a short hand for vocal inflections and taught myself to sing that whole album.

 

But those songs... those lyrics... maybe I could..

 

So I started trying.

[Writer]

Matximus: That's not boring...especially that part about wanting to impress the girls. From a female perspective, I think it is awesome when someone makes an effort to impress. It shows that the 'impress-er' actually holds some sort of value for the 'impress-ee'. Maybe the value was hormone induced physical attraction at that point...but at least you were willing to go through some effort on your part.

 

Lee Knight: Elvis Costello! Yes! Great inspiration to have.

[eeglug]

I come from a very different angle. I really had no ambitions to write - at first. I was just jamming in the basement a lot. I recorded the jams on regular stereo cassette tape. An older guy I knew who had lots of experience in live sound suggested I get a 4 track porta studio and so I did.

 

At first I just did stuff that was an extension my endlessly aimless pathetic jamming. But after a while I needed to impose some sort of structure and that led to writing.

[jodyWayne]

I was always interested in writing, but not songs. I liked telling stories. So from the time I was a child, that could almost read and write, I wrote little short stories. May 2008 was me and wifes 38 wedding anniversary. I didn't have money for a nice present, so I decided to give her something from the heart, rather than the pocket-book. So, I tried to write a poem about how we started our lives together. It was true, of course, with a little fiction thrown in to make it more interesting. Well, I messed it all up. It was too long, didn't rhyme perfectly, so I was going to shred it. But, my granddaughter read it. She said: Grandpa, I know what's wrong. This isn't a poem, it's a song. Long story short, she talked me into learning three finger positions on a guitar and making music for the poem that wasn't a poem but was a song. Reluctantly I did it. I sorta played the guitar and sang the song to my wife for our anniversary. We both cried. I titled the song, "They Called Her Gypsy". I was supprised it actually sounded like a real song. So, I thought I would try and convert some of my short stories into songs. I did, and they sounded like real songs. So, I thought I would try and write some songs. I did, and it was harder than I thought it would be. I found out about "Songwriting Forums" and now it's easier. And, that's how I got hooked on this stuff.

[Writer]

Wow jodyWayne...that is a beautiful story! After 38 years to still love someone so much and be able to express it that way is...the way it should be! My husband and I are about halfway to where you are and, so far so good! He's not written a song for me yet, but he is often singing and playing songs already written and telling me that they remind him of us. When he does that it makes this old heart feel like it's inside a school girl!

 

Very, very cool!!!!

[Writer]

I always thought use of the silent (written) word to be an art form from my early days. I grew to be an avid reader and capable creator of mental imagery. I started playing acoustic guitar because it was another (aural) art form - much more than just music - that captivated me later on. At a time when I was falling out of my youth and tripping all over adulthood, my world was becoming a reality ready to be described. It came naturally and easily. I wrote to tell stories. These days, writing for writing's sake seems to be a strange imposter to me yet I get signals that it's the new virtue on the block.

 

I like the way you write.

 

I teach our children at home and have a heavy emphasis on reading and writing. All of our children love to read and tell stories...and I love hearing their stories. It saddens me that so many of my children's friends do not seem capable of expressing themselves well through writing these days. It is an art form, and a necessary one at that.

[Oswlek]

My story is as boring as anyone elses. I grew up loving music and wanted to express myself and impress girls. I like the way Bob Dylan describes how he started writing. He said he moved away from traditionals to things like "Song For Woody" because it said things that just needed to be said. He HAD to write. I think anone who dabbles in creativity should understand what that feels like. And he doesn't even take credit for writing the masterpieces of his early 20s - he says they were already there and he just channeled them. It was like some Holy Ghost moved him to unearth these artifacts that - he claims - if he didn't dig up, someone else would. It's probably all bull{censored}, but I love how he gets all mystical about the creative spark.

 

Without ever hearing Dylan speak on this, I describe my songwriting in almost exactly this manner. Occassionally, I'm given the ability to perceive one of a limitless river of songs. Sometimes I see the entire thing, sometimes it is just a scrap and then I need to find the rest on my own. But I feel I've never actually "created" anything, just found it.

 

My songwriting story probably goes back to my early childhood. While my family would gather in the TV room, I would sit and listen to my older brother's clock radio. I played the piano for a few months as a kid, and even at 7 years old, I preferred to build my own melodies.

 

Though I stopped from there and it was 13 years before I touched a guitar, music has always inspired more of a connection for me, as if it interacts with all my senses, not just hearing. Almost immediately after picking the guitar up, I was writing my "own" chord progressions and lyrics weren't very far behind.

 

EDIT: Jody, that is a touching story.

[Ontological]

I bought a guitar.

[rockinrobby]

For me it started after some traumatic events, and then never stopped (the writing not the trauma).

[lp_junkie]

I started writing when I started actually making up my own stuff on guitar as a kid, then words just started to come with the music.

[Temple of Light]

A combination of things really. One, my sheer hatred and distrust of our Gov't. To this day I can see JFK's top being popped like it was yesterday, and I sensed even then that Gov't was somehow responsible, which to this day , I still believe it was. I was maybe a year and a half old by then, I don't know why it's still so clear.I guess that and many other examples of pain and wrong made me want to write a song...and right a wrong...lolol. I guess it inspired me to be political before I got my own head blown off.

A means of expressing all the hate and rage which would cause me to more rapidly age...

And if y'all hadn't noticed, my completely unreasonable fascination with rhyme. I guess I sensed early that chics wanted and dug poets...which was something I knew I needed {chics} but didn't know how to get...and listenning to R&R for the first time. When I was 5, my older stepbrother introduced me to Led Zeppelin I:

Whole Lotta Love and then the rest of the Album, and then he qued up Are you Experienced by Jimi. I would never be the same {sane?}

again...I'ts all the {Jimmy's, Jimi's} fault! A pretty decent beginning to a pretty decent exposure of genius.

I soon discovered Radio, and the list went on and on...

That began my fascination with the electric guitar in general and sound in particular...Particularly large shoes to fill as an example to follow... Anyway, let the good times roll, teenage angst, social distortions, multiple drug addictions, car accidents, falses starts, false prides and false tries, severe alchololism and mental illness and multiple trips to mental wards later, I began to realize that this {censored} wasn't so easy as it sounded and I had no idea why I could not stay grounded, but I guess it lit the fire of my soul and imagination, cause after all is said and done There is no more desperation and I'm still having Fun! Yeah, I got clean and sober and started my own journey into reality with all it's duality,

cosmic debris, {are you listening Jerry?lolol} hypocrisy and brutality, forever changing my legacy into which I now can see the epitome of my own identity. I could go on, there are about 100 or so more entries I could use but then I would just be cheating my muse...Why do you persist, Mr. Anderson, Why?

Only you can answer that for yourself...How do I feel about keeping it real? It's a license to kill and a license to steal...

In earnest though, I must admit, this response to this topic, has been strangely therapuetic...Thanks for asking.

[drewl]

It just seemed the thing to do when you start playing an instrument. You learn the songs you like and start making up your own, or if you're lucky enough to be in a band you start jamming which becomes the basis for songs.

In high school I had a creative writing class which helped, and there I met a singer who joined my band and we were soon writing songs and playing them with the band.

[Writer]

I have always been creative, it just happens that what I am trying to channel now is suited to sound and words.

 

giggle, giggle... That statement sounds like something my better half might have said with pretension in his voice and a wink in his eye.

[Writer]

It just seemed the thing to do when you start playing an instrument. You learn the songs you like and start making up your own, or if you're lucky enough to be in a band you start jamming which becomes the basis for songs. In high school I had a creative writing class which helped, and there I met a singer who joined my band and we were soon writing songs and playing them with the band.

 

Seems like that is the way a lot of people start. My middle son is an amazing guitarist...and I'm not just saying that because he's mine...the kid is really good!

 

When he was in the early stages of learning, he would come to me with a new number and ask what I thought. It was always very technically accurate...almost to the point of sounding sterile, if that makes any sense to anyone...but I know what I meant, lol!

 

Anyway, I would tell him that the song was wonderfully played and he was blessed with an impressive talent, but that I really wish I could hear a little of his heart in the music. He didn't get it...not then at least.

 

Then, one day, he played a song for me that almost knocked me off my chair. It sounded great, but I couldn't place the tune. I asked him what the song was and he told me it was something he's written.

 

That was it! He'd found it...how to play with his heart as much as with his hands.

 

We both had tears in our eyes...

[blue2blue]

While discussing lyrics in another thread, I remembered how it was that I started writing and I was wondering if anyone had a similar story. I think it would be interesting to know how other writers caught the 'writing bug' if any of you wouldn't mind sharing your story. Here's mine: During my teen years, writing became a way for me to say what I was feeling when I didn't think I could just come out and say it or didn't know exactly how to express my feelings. I had a very strict upbringing and would have been in a world of trouble if I said what I sometimes thought. However, for example, if I disguised my longing to spread my own wings as a song about a bird, I could say whatever I wanted...pretty sneaky, huh? tee, hee... So...who's game? Anyone?

I think it was a rainy day in 7th grade English, when the teacher said, Well, we're all going to try out hand at writing short stories today. Being a big fan of spy stories and sci-fi, I wrote a terse and schematic story about a NATO like alliance attacking an international terrorist conspiracy. If that sounds like the plot of a James Bond/Man from UNCLE type scenario, well, art imitates art. If it sounds like current events... I hear ya. When I first read about Osama bin Laden almost two decades ago, I thought he and al Qaeda sounded just like a James Bond plot...

 

Anyhow, the rest of the stories must have been really, really bad... because me and one or two others were singled out for praise.

 

I went out and bought a copy of the then current issue of Writer's Digest, realized there were some markets where a guy could pull some serious bank, and plunged into my new career. I was so serious about it that my folks bought me a typewriter for my 14th birthday. Later I discovered blank verse and drifted into poetry as well. In college, I was part of the poetry scene, did a number of readings, edited a poetry anthology (that got its funding pulled at the last moment due to budget cutbacks) but soon enough realized that the guys playing guitars under the trees in the quad were getting all the cute girls -- including some of the poet girls. It was clear I would have to extend my horizons...

 

 

PS... Actually, come to think of it, my real start was a year or two earlier when I scripted and performed a couple of radio-style parody skits into my ultra-primitive battery powered tape recorder. (No capstan. That's how primitive.) I did my own

'mic 'n' mouth' sound FX, too, a la (the coincidentally named) Tom Keith on Prairie Home Companion.

[Dingoist]

When I was 5 my parents started putting me in piano lessons. Never really liked them but stuck with until I was 15, though the first song I ever wrote I would say I was able 7-8 years old, and it was a little ditty about me and my best friend called "Two of a kind" ... though it was never truly finished. A curse of sorts that haunts most of my writing to this day -- the inability to finish a tune to my satisfaction.

 

When I was 15, I got a guitar, ditched piano lessons and had a few lessons and started playing self-taught for the most part. My first foray was into 12 bar blues, and making up blues songs on the fly about anything in the room -- it was a bit of a party gag.

 

At the same time I was heavily into poetry and theatre -- and the guitar was always fun to bring to the after parties

 

I continued poetry writing, became an assistant editor at a local poetry magazine, started free lancing entertainment, interview and satire pieces. Dropped out of school, starting doing layout/design and writing professionally -- and became an ad writer (it paid the bills, and I had one campaign I devised go national shortly after I left that gig).

 

All the same time, I was playing guitar. I joined up in an acoustic duo called "The Smokey Robinson Sex Quintet", but we never ever played a gig. I started writing silly songs with titles like "Playing with ourselves", and "Meatballs and Gravy". But serious songs really eluded me at this point.

 

I managed to finish one, that was months in the works, the night a good friend died. It was called "broken". I also wrote a tribute poem about the fellow, that got published in a newspaper (600,000 circulation), and was recently cited in someone's folklore thesis (that's how you know you are getting old )

 

I moved to playing/singing traditional folkie stuff, and eventually while nearly having a very nationally successful writing career (must say, I did sabotage myself when nearing the peak), I pretty much dropped it all and went back to school and finished off a degree in computers.

 

Now, a few years later, house, marriage, 2 kids, corporate job, I'm back at it, though much more seriously now. Before I was young, stupid and had no grasp on how much potential I really had. Now, I'm not looking for the limelight, I'm not willing to sacrifice time with my family -- I want to write, play, sing and perhaps get the occasional gig at a local pub.