Three weeks ago I posted a blog dealing with the “tug of war” I experience every day between writing books and playing piano. By now I would have thought it would settle into a balanced routine. But it hasn’t. It’s still a tug of war.
It’s strange to know what I really want to do most: for me that is composing music and learning to play it well. And yet, writing books has had a twenty year head start. In that twenty or so years, I have compiled into a three-ring binder the ideas for about 80 books. The binder only includes the books I am confident are marketable. For each of these I took time to enter a working title, the basic plot, and perhaps a few of the main characters.
But then along came the idea Bill (my http://pianos5th.com partner) and I share of a website especially designed to aid the aspiring composer of piano music. It is built to assist any composer, for that matter, along a path leading to proficiency in piano composition.
Oh, I know, it is not possible to “make” a great composer. If it were I would begin with myself. But I do find great satisfaction in “cranking” out a pleasing piece of music–even if it pleases no one but me.
I have never studied the life of Vincent van Gogh, but I have allowed myself a few free-thoughts about him. I have never been very impressed with his paintings, especially if they are compared to artistic works by the greats: Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. Yet over the years I have developed an appreciation for van Gogh’s paintings, but I have not been able to shake the thought that he might have wanted to paint more like Michelangelo, for example.
I wish I could compose and perform like Mozart of Chopin, but I am gradually becoming comfortable with what skills I have and with those I have been developing.
So, then there is writing. I know I am not the world’s greatest author–far from it. But I can write. And I do have something to say. I can come up with compelling plots and interesting characters. I have even begun a series entitled The Millville Mysteries. I have written the first three books, am three or four chapters in the fourth book, and have ideas for the next two or three. I would really like to be working on them right now. There are book series’ that I love to read, over and over. And I realize these authors must have been under some kind of deadline so that they would produce one book per year. I could have done too if I hadn’t taken this side route of composing for piano.
As a matter of fact, I have two other series I have begun, each with a first book. When will I ever get back to them?
Well, I will keep working on this balance thing. I would really like to feel fulfilled with both writing books and composing piano music. Until then, I will try to avoid thinking too much about illustrating.
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