Category Archives: Saturday with the Spark

Creative pursuits and life-related happenings.

Saturday with the Spark

Doodles in the Margins

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As I’ve written about before, I used to doodle quite a bit in the margins of my notebooks (and occasionally on school desks, though a good desk-washing sentence cured me of that quick smart). But while reviewing my previous doodle post, I realized I had never uploaded any examples of my smallest-scale illustrations.

So, from the production studio of an idle mind struggling to relate to the educational material in front of it, here are some of my best “itty-bitty doodles” for your amusement. 😀

Simple Anime-Eyes Faces

Because so much expression can be made with a sparkle in the eye, a twist of the mouth, and the lift of an eyebrow…I loved drawing these itty-bitty faces in and around my notes (and still do, if the backs of my church bulletins are any indication…LOL).


Happy anime-eyes
Happy Pokemon-style eyes
Bored/sad
Wistful
Long-lashed eyes, kinda flirtatious

Sleepy (or kinda ticked off/bummed…could be any)
Scared/unsure (waiting for my math test grade? LOL)
Silly face, mainly drawn near 3:00 PM xD

The Stick-Figure Circus

Most of these were drawn during high school–no wonder they feature me performing circus tricks, since you have to jump through so many hoops to be considered an “A” student. LOL


A tightrope-walker (my senior year of high school? LOL)
Juggling (and dropping) stuff
–usually how I do it

The process of a handstand…wish I could do it this easy!

Apparently, I Fancied Myself a Fashion Designer

Seriously, I used to design all kinds of spiffy fashions. Well, spiffy, but maybe not the best-drawn or the most realistic. My tastes were more towards old-school glamour in women’s fashion, as these examples show.


My attempt at a swishy skirt, semi-successful
A basic dress form (love the neckline!)
A little dash of “island girl”

The Paper Garden

Flowers, trailing vines, and all kinds of natural imagery garnished my notebook pages back in the day, and I still find myself doodling these if nothing else is on my mind (or if I’m trying to puzzle out something).


A basic little flower with balanced leaves
Vine twining around a dowel, almost like a morning glory
Clumps of grass and little flowers growing at the foot of a BIG OLE tree…just the right size to rest under and read.

Summary

Doodles, as you might have guessed, were a favorite pastime of mine (and still are, heehee). As a grownup, do you still find yourself adding a little doodle life to your memos, Post-It notes, and business meeting notes? (I hope I’m not the only one who hasn’t grown out of it…xD)

Saturday with the Spark

Music as Therapy? YES!

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Music is generally thought of as entertainment; for some, a career, for others a pastime or even just background noise. But music is more than this…it can be a creative activity is the most personal sense. It can help you recreate yourself when you have lost your soul’s song.

My Personal Experience with Therapeutic Music

For me, music has always been a lifeline back to sanity. In the afternoons when I got home from a particularly torturous day of middle school, for instance, I knew that solace awaited me atop the piano keys. The melodies I played could drown out, at least for a time, the ugly voices of the girls (and boys) who teased and physically abused me during those years. Indeed, from the memories of my pain, I could create music that was sorrowfully beautiful, and turn their shameful work into something amazing.

Music has been a longstanding companion for me, a lyrical form of therapy that cost nothing and healed me more than medicines ever could. But I’m happy to say that even non-musicians can benefit from music therapy; actually, the profession of being a “music therapist” is a legitimate job now, as one of my college friends can attest. Music can be the key to finally getting rid of your stress, in a creative way.

“Therapeutic” Music: Not Just “Easy Listening”

In my opinion, music doesn’t have to be “relaxing” or “soothing” to be therapeutic. I have gotten rid of a lot of anger while headbanging to Disturbed’s “Indestructible” or Slipknot’s “Before I Forget”, for instance. LOL

I often find that trying to listen to quieter music (which everyone else says is relaxing) actually makes me more agitated, because I have a head full of whirling thoughts that never shut up, and quieter music doesn’t drown those out as effectively. What works best for me is to “bang out the stress,” listening to music with a strong beat, captivating melody, or incredibly apt words for whatever I’m going through.

I’d say that different people relax in different ways, and whatever type of music you really enjoy, you should go with that as your “music therapy.” Soft music works for some, and then there’s people like me who relax with thumpin’ bass and rattling windows. 😛

Participating in Making Music Can Help Even More

Listening to music can be quite therapeutic, as I just noted…but if you try to make music of your own, you can activate creative thought processes as well as relax yourself.

That doesn’t mean that you have to pick up a musical instrument and learn how to play it beautifully. This can mean rocking out on Guitar Hero or Rock Band, fiddling with a music-making software program or Flash game, singing in your church choir or playing in your praise band, or even playing with a musical toy that belongs to your child (or perhaps your kid brother or sister). Anything that gets you involved in the physical process of making music can be therapy for you.

why does this work? Because when you’re focusing on making music, you’re not concentrating on your worries and problems, and you’re not as aware of your surroundings. You can kind of “lose” yourself in the process of it all, letting go of stress. Just don’t worry about the quality of the music you’re making–even if it’s got a whole bunch of wrong notes in it, it doesn’t matter, so long as you’re enjoying making the music.

Write a Couple Ditties of Your Own

If you’re feeling especially creative, you can even try your hand at writing some lyrics and melodies for yourself, almost a musical diary entry. Many of my songs fall into this category–most of my piano/vocal music, in fact. Lyrics just flow better when they’re about my life and various aspects of it, and no matter how personal I get, it seems others still identify with what I sing about.

This is another important part of musical therapy–using music to talk about what you’ve been through. Somehow, couching your past problems in a bit of melody seems to help “close the book” on that part of your life; you’re singing about it, so it’s not as painful anymore. (I’m pretty sure this kind of songwriting got me through middle and high school, though the products of such efforts might be unlistenable. LOL)

If you don’t trust your own songwriting skills, you can seek out a “songwriting buddy” and craft it together, which will work just as well. Who knows, maybe if you find enough people who can sing or play an instrument (and like your songs), you could end up making a band/singing group and have a new joy in your life!

Summary

Think of music as another form of communication. Not only can it help you relax and talk about the problems you’ve worked through, but it can help you remember better times, too…and all of that is therapeutic. It’s amazing what music can do, if you start interacting with it and making it personal!

Saturday with the Spark

Useful Cardstock Crafts

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Cardstock isn’t just for decorative little trinkets that are easily crushed anymore. In fact, there are lots of cardstock crafts that actually provide a useful function.

I didn’t believe it for myself, however, until I started investigating. As a sometime crafter, I want crafts that are pretty but useful, because I already have a houseful of useless clutter. (Pack rat? Moi? 😛 )

Thus, when I ran across the following tutorials on cardstock crafting, which resulted in homemade items one could actually use and enjoy, I was pleasantly surprised, and I wanted to share these with you.

Around-The-House Objects

Drink Coasters

Not only can you use printed cardstock to decorate plain square tiles as coasters, but you can make coasters out of cardstock itself! (The just-cardstock coasters are a little flimsy, so perhaps you could make them a little more permanent by building up layers of cardstock together, or attaching the cardstock to a base of cork.)


StyleMePretty: Tile Coaster Tut
CreativeConceptsNYC: Cardstock Coaster Tut

Decorative (Yet Functional) Boxes

Literally tons of “cardstock box” tutorials are out there, so I selected three of the most unique and cute tuts I found. Who knew there were so many uses for random paper scraps and gift cards? You can make boxes to hold small items, as well as small gift boxes, and even a cute storage box for your favorite packets of tea!

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Etsy: Cardstock-Scrap Box Tut (video)
Craftypod: Old-Giftcard Box Tut

MelStampz: Teapot Box Tut 		 

CreativityPrompt: Box of Drawers Tut

Other Useful Items

Besides coasters and boxes, you can also make big envelopes, and seed packets for storing seeds or giving them as gifts.


Alenka’s Printables: Seed Packet Tut 		No Image
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About.com: 4.5″ x 6″ Blank Envelope Template

Special Event Supplies

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on party supplies, especially for paper products, cardstock seems to be the way to go. These creative ideas for napkin rings, party hats, wedding favor bags, and wedding program fans are simple to make and money-saving as well!

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About.com: Blank Wedding Favor Bag Template 		No Image
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About.com: Napkin Ring Template 		No Image
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About.com: Party Hat Template
About.com: Wedding Program Fan Tut

Just For Fun

Sounds strange to be able to make toys and fun things out of cardstock, but you can! The following three tutorials show you how to make models, alphabet blocks, and even 3D glasses out of cardstock. (The cardstock modeling FAQ, in particular, shows you how to make models of buildings, planes, etc. out of cardstock for kids to decorate and play with…or for you to decorate and play with!)

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CardFAQ: Cardstock Modeling
About.com: 3D Glasses Tut 		No Image
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About.com: Alphabet Blocks Tut

And Last but Not Least…

Not only can you use cardstock for its own crafts, but you can use cardstock to aid you in other craft-making, like creating templates for tracing and stenciling.


CraftIdeas.info: Cardstock Templates

Summary

Cardstock has so many useful applications around your home, and for all sorts of special events. If you’ve never tried crafting with cardstock, try some of the templates and tutorials I’ve linked to–you may just surprise yourself!

Saturday with the Spark

Kitchen Creativity: 5-Minute Lazy Food Hacks

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Generally, I hate cooking. I hate standing on a constantly-sore ankle in the kitchen, with hot vapors from a pot engulfing my face while I stir and stir till the world ends. I hate waiting over an hour for food to be done in the oven, or having to do series after series of repetitive steps (or just lots of steps in general) to cook one meal.

Basically, I’m impatient and kinda lazy when it comes to cooking. If I wasn’t already really hungry, I wouldn’t have walked into the kitchen to cook in the first place, amirite? 😛

I’m trying to get better at cooking, but it’s a slow process…so I decided to get creative, and tackle the problem of cooking cheaply with a little Robinesque innovation.

The following three food hacks came from two motivations: 1) I wanted to eat yummy food; 2) I wanted to be able to fix it without having to turn on the stove, because heat elements are scary. Thus, I give you the following food hacks. May they brighten your kitchen experience as they have mine!

5-Minute Soft Garlic Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of barbecue bread (stocky loaf with thick, soft slices)
  • Butter/margarine, amount adjusted for preference
  • Garlic powder (from the spice aisle)
  • 1 jar pizza sauce (trust me)

Instructions

  1. Spread each slice of barbecue bread with as little or as much butter as you wish. I tend to like a little bread with my butter. 😛
  2. Sprinkle on garlic powder to taste. Try going easy on it at first–you can always add more when it’s done.
  3. Pop up to 4 slices in the microwave at a time on a paper towel, for about 30-40 seconds on default settings.
  4. For each diner, pour a small amount of pizza sauce in a little bowl, and microwave it for about 10 seconds.
  5. Serve, either by itself for a light meal or with a larger meal as a side. Pizza sauce makes an excellent dipping sauce for this soft bread (getting hungry just thinking about it, LOL).

5-Minute Chicken Tacos

Ingredients (all amounts will vary with number of people being served)

  • Deli-sliced chicken
  • Taco shells (can be hard or soft as preferred)
  • Optional: Shredded cheese, preferably Mexican blend
  • Optional: Veggie toppings, hot sauces, salsa, and anything else you like to cram onto a taco 🙂

Instructions

  1. Lay out taco shells on microwavable plates, in groups of one to four per plate.
  2. Pull 8 deli slices of chicken out.
  3. Roll up the 8 slices into a tight roll, then use a knife to cut the roll into small sections. Think sushi-style.
  4. Layer 1-2 cut sections of chicken into each taco shell; you can roll up and cut more meat if you want more meat per taco.
  5. If you want cheese, sprinkle it on to taste.
  6. Pop each plateful of tacos into the microwave for 60 to 90 seconds on default settings.
  7. Once the tacos are done, add all the veggie toppings, hot sauces, salsa, etc., that your heart desires.
  8. Serve, and enjoy your nom. 😀

5-Minute Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

  • 1 plain pound cake or angel food cake
  • Whipped cream, preferably chilled
  • Strawberry jam or jelly

Basic Instructions

  1. Slice the cake into preferred portion sizes, and lay each one flat on a small plate.
  2. Spread jelly or jam all over one side of each slice (like you’re making a PB&J, but only with J).
  3. Spoon a dollop or two of whipped cream on top of each slice.
  4. Serve it before someone runs off with it. xD

For More Epic Results

  1. Instead of serving each slice individually after spooning whipped cream on top, stack the slices together in groups of 3 slices.
  2. Re-slice each stack into 3 or 4 fairly thick slices (so all the whipped cream, cake, and strawberry jelly/jam sticks together better).
  3. The stripey pieces that result should look kinda like a British ribbon sandwich at this point. If it doesn’t, that’s okay–it’ll still taste of awesome.)
  4. Serve (carefully), and listen for the oohs and aahs of amazement from your dining party.
Saturday with the Spark

The Novel-List (Another Brain Hack)

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Another week, and another almost-week of stalling in my novel. I went without writing in it for a month, kept away by illness and real life issues, and just flat not feeling like “writing.” Meanwhile, I kept staring at my to-do list, which did admittedly get smaller and smaller as the week went on.

What was wrong with me? I wondered. How am I able to get all this real-life stuff accomplished, but can’t be bothered to open a simple file and edit anything?

THEN…then I took a look at my to-do list, and had an epiphany.

My To-Do List: Before


just a sample to-do list, but it illustrates my point

Everything else I had written out to do was specific–for instance, on “Monday”, it says to write a post about HTML5 and clean off bathroom countertops, and on Wednesday, it says to make notes on the Sunday School lesson for the week and mop the kitchen floor.

But for my novel? All it said was the vague instruction of “write 1,000 words”. No other clues, no real indication as to where the story was to go next…NOTHING.

I had gone to the trouble of writing in time to novel on my to-do list, but I had not made it a specific goal. Nor had I left myself any clues or seeds of ideas to build off of. Therefore, I was continually baffled as to what to do next, making it harder and harder to write.

So, instead of making a detailed entry in my everyday to-do list, I made out a whole new to-do list, just for my novel.

My Separate Novel-List


generic sample novel-list because the actual plot is under wraps 😛

This is an example of the specific to-do list I’m talking about. With this, you’re making an outline of your book before you write it, kind of like our teachers wanted us to write outlines before we wrote our papers in school (and we wrote the outlines after writing the paper, right? *wink*).

With my specific to-do list, I’ve mapped out exactly where the story is supposed to go, almost like a diary entry of each “day” in the novel. And I’ve already been able to go a little further ahead in my story, where I had been stuck for a month before. Even though I still may get stuck, and it still may be slow going, at least I’ll be going!

Summary

If you’re currently working on any creative project, and you know where you’d LIKE it to go but can’t seem to get inspiration, try a to-do list like this, mapping out the way for yourself. Seeing it all planned out visually, like an itinerary for your project, may just spur you on!

Saturday with the Spark

Simple yet Effective Art

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Note: I am not and never will be a “great” artist, but I do like to mess around in MS Paint and see what kind of little visual creations I can come up with.

While playing around in Paint the other day, I started toying with shapes, colors, and random line shapes, just musing rather than trying to create a real picture. Along the way, I came up with 4 images that astounded me–they weren’t necessarily “great” art, but they were striking pictures nonetheless. It reminded me of logos for businesses, website headers, and other iconic pictures; the art was simple but effective.

The following simple tricks, like using various shades of one color and basic shapes, can sometimes make a bigger impact on your viewer than a complicated line drawing. Not to mention that it is MUCH easier to draw and color these shapes, especially with a laptop mouse. 😛 Read on to see examples of this kind of art!

Work with varying shades of the same color.

Sometimes, all you need is just one color, with various lighter and darker tones making up all the visual interest in the image. This sophisticated layered effect is created with just four squares of slightly different blues on a very deeply-hued background, which creates a soft picture perfect for some sort of logo or even just contemplative art.

Make your art look 3D with color shading.

With only four colors–bright yellow, black, and two shades of green–I created this simple image, which seems to be in 3D. The yellow “layer” of the picture pops up from the green “layer”, because of the line of darker green I put just below the zigzagging black edge. I seriously surprised myself with this picture…I had no idea the addition of the darker green could make the picture suddenly become dimensional!
This ribbon looks more realistic than not, with just a hint of darker lavender shading in strategic places. Curving shapes are a little harder to do than straight-sided shapes, but just add a little bit of shading at a time. (In this picture, I don’t think I got the shading QUITE right, but as with most of my art, I was afraid to try to do it over for fear I’d mess it all up…which is usually the result. LOL)

In both cases, all it comes down to is choosing a “believable” shadow shade and figuring out which “side” the light is coming from, and you’ve got it made!

Play with using the same shape in different sizes and colors.

By using various sizes and shapes of circles, as well as various colors, you can make a quirky and cool art piece. Layering shapes together in playful ways, experimenting with color combinations, and even putting in a bit of transparency here and there, can create an image you’d be glad to showcase as a logo, a print on a pillow, a piece of art in your bedroom–anything you can think of. This particular design would look nifty decorating a notebook or a pencil cup, I think. ^_^

The Big Secret? This Art Took Minutes

I kid you not; all this art took moments to make but doesn’t look it. Since I’m a very impatient artist, I needed art that didn’t take me hours and hours of sketching, erasing, drawing, coloring, erasing (and crumpling up of paper, eventually).

This kind of simple digital art can be easily used anywhere you want them to be, even in non-digital places–all you need is a printer and an appropriate medium for your project, and you’re set. Try it for yourself; open your simplest image-creation program, and start playing around… 🙂

Saturday with the Spark

Organize Your Creativity with Bubble Maps

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Around third grade, I was taught how to draw something like the following illustration:

Using this, we were told, you could expand out ideas based on a central concept. You’d put the seed of the idea in the middle of the map, and then write more details about the idea in the outer “bubbles”. This was called a “Bubble Map,” one of the many thinking maps we learned how to do that year (see examples of other thinking maps in this PDF).

We often used these in school to get our thoughts together before writing a rough draft of a report, or to record observations on a specific concept. And there are several other uses for them, according to this eHow article.

Mostly science, language, and history used these thought-organization tools…but it occurred to me recently to try using a bubble map in particular to expand on a creative idea.

Why I Chose the Bubble Map Form

The structure of a bubble map is quite adaptable to any idea you want to explore, and its creation is simple; considering that my motivation for creative things has been somewhat lacking of late, I knew I needed something that was simple and adaptable for my use as a visual “thought prop”, to allow myself to flesh out an idea without feeling so daunted and overwhelmed.

Examples of Creative-Idea Bubble Maps

Seeing your thoughts visually organized like this can boost your creativity, as I found out while constructing the following two examples:


This one depicts ideas on my newest layout ideas for WithinMyWorld.org. Notice how I’m tackling many facets of design–usability/legibility, color choice, image and link styles. Bubble maps are great for doing this; the only limit to what you put in the “bubbles” is how big you drew the bubble to start with!


In this bubble map, I’m thinking hard about the various style details of a new song, describing the “mood” of the music, how to play the melody and accompaniment, how to style lyrics, etc. Bubble maps are very good for fleshing out minute details–stuff you would usually think of in a burst of inspiration and then forget.

Learn How to Make Your Own Bubble Maps

Aside from the time-honored pencil-and-paper method described in this eHow article, you can also do as I did and create one digitally using your favorite image-creation program (I used Microsoft Paint). With later editions of Microsoft Word, you can also do SmartArt Graphics that mimic some aspects of bubble maps and other thinking maps, as well. (Learn more about how to make SmartArt graphics here.)

And, if you want to build your bubble map digitally and easily online, there are actually several online apps that you can use. These are NIFTY 🙂

Don’t Think These Would Work for You?

Well, what if I told you that the song I describe in the second bubble map wasn’t even on the list of creative projects until I started trying to do a bubble map about music? Within moments of finishing the map, I was inspired to go to the keyboard and start messing around with a totally new melody.

If these things can jump-start my creativity in these days of headaches and mental fatigue…well, they might just save the world, who knows? GO BUBBLE MAPS! 😀

Saturday with the Spark

The More Outlandish the Idea, the Better

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Ever come up with an idea that was just so silly you couldn’t take it seriously?

Or what about a concept that completely disregards all the rules?

In reality, these crazy, far-flung ideas may be the key to thinking more creatively. You just can’t allow yourself to dismiss them before they help.

Why “Outlandish” Ideas Actually Aren’t

When we’re trying to do anything, whether it’s solving a problem or coming up with a new idea, we sometimes lock our mental processes within certain boundaries, sometimes without realizing it. We follow the rules society has laid down for righting this particular problem, or we cling tightly to the types of ideas that have been successful in the past.

Now, I’m not saying throw aside all rules, regulations, and useful advice. It’s good to remember what’s been successful, and it’s good to remember what society generally likes. But it’s definitely not good to keep ourselves locked within rules when we’re trying to come up with something very new and different. “Thinking outside the box,” an innovative phrase repeated so often that it’s become cliche, really means setting yourself free from what you think you “ought” to come up with, and allowing the creative process to come more naturally and freely.

Examples of Outlandish Creative Ideas

For instance, Mary Shelley’s vision of a monster cobbled together from various body parts might have seemed outlandish, but it certainly laid the foundation for a genuinely spooky and sad tale–Frankenstein. And Edgar Rice Burroughs’ concept of how a man could live on Mars erupted into series of books, which laid the groundwork for the science fiction literary genre for over half a century, even up to the present day. (Burroughs is the author behind the book which the “John Carter” movie comes from.)

Other so-called “crazy” ideas are now commonplace to us. The automobile itself was considered more a novelty than a necessity, even when it first rolled off the production line. And when I read one of my cousins’ textbooks from the ’70s talking about corded phones which showed the face of the person you were talking to, no one ever dreamed it could really be possible–the cordless, wireless iPhone and its FaceTime were still nearly 40 years in the future.

Getting Hold of Your Own “Crazy” Ideas

So, how do you come up with your own wacky creative ideas that just might take off?

Make a promise to yourself that you will pursue and develop every idea that pops into your head, without laughing it away or dismissing it out of hand.

Start brainstorming, about whatever you need a creative idea for.

For instance, do you need an idea for a story’s villain? Start thinking about actions, voice types, facial expressions, clothing, and dialogue that you personally associate with being villainous, and expand on that. This will inevitably lead to developing a backstory or a “reason for being evil”–run with it. Trust me, you will like where it ends up if you let your mind wander. (I did this very process with my own novel’s villain, who didn’t exist until one of my very earliest readers pointed out that I didn’t have a real villain in my book yet.)

Document how your idea grows and changes. Sounds weird, but if you keep track of your original idea and the subsequent changes you’ve made to it, you’ll be better able to fall back on earlier changes if you need to. Plus, even if one little detail of an idea doesn’t work in one context, you could easily use it somewhere else. It’s good to hoard your ideas!

Don’t discount your dreams. If you find yourself dreaming about your idea (which often happens, if you’ve been concentrating on it a lot!), write down what you dreamed about as soon as you get up. Your sleeping mind might just come up with the solution to the last troubling little detail. (Don’t laugh, it’s happened to me before–I dreamed about taking a final exam, and one of the “questions” was actually an answer to the thing I couldn’t figure out before I went to bed. WIN)

If someone else thinks your idea is “weird”, let them think that. Until your idea is fully fleshed out, it might sound a little far-fetched to others, and that, contrary to popular belief, is OKAY. Don’t let anyone’s disapproval get in the way until you have sorted the idea out for yourself. If they have constructive criticism, like my friend’s suggestion that my book needed a stronger villain, that’s awesome; if they just brush your idea aside, then they’re proving they don’t need to be part of your creative process.

If this idea doesn’t work, take it apart and try again. The idea you come up with might or might not work. If it doesn’t, take the non-working bits out and refashion them, as many times as you need to. Ideas are not like laptop computers, whose parts seem specifically made to work with only a scant few other brands of components. Ideas are endlessly flexible and reparable, and best of all, you need only one tool–your brain!

Saturday with the Spark

Avoid Writing a Boring Song

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Boring songs do not get listeners. And yet, what do I find myself writing when I have such an awesome idea for these lyrics and it’s gonna be totally amazing? Thaaaaat’s right–a boring song.

Or what about when I find a melody that’s just crazily beautiful and I gotta find words to go with it right now or I’m gonna burst? Yup–I end up writing a boring song.

What prevents such awesome lyrics or beautiful melodies from being interesting? Well, I find that when you focus too hard on the lyrics and message of a song, the melody and chords–what really carries the message to your audience’s minds–go by the wayside. Ultimately, you end up with a really weighty song, like a cake that’s dense and chewy instead of light and fluffy (and yummy).

Conversely, when you work really hard at the melody and chords of a song and forget about the lyrics and message, the words of the song seem not to match up to the beauty of the music. It’s like trying to match a lovely, subtle striped pattern with a garish, huge polka-dot pattern; the delicacy of the former is overshadowed by the brightness and boldness of the latter.

Can You Quantify “Boring Music” or “Boring Lyrics?”

Well, I’m not sure, but I’m going to try. Here’s some examples of how a songwriter can bore audiences to death, at least in my opinion:

Boring Lyrics Boring Music
  • Introductory verse is too long/wordy
  • Too much “meaning” has been crammed into the song
  • Lots of trite or unnatural rhymes/word rhythms
  • Introductory music without words goes on too long
  • Music between first chorus and second verse repeats too much of the intro
  • Melody is reused over and over without any innovation

When your melody/chords sound like they repeat themselves ad nauseum, or the lyrics just don’t sound natural, your audience is going to be turned off (trust me, been there, done that :C ). You can just tell when their minds start to drift away and stop relating to what you’re singing about. Any time your music and lyrics are not in balance, any time they tug against each other for attention rather than supporting each other, your song becomes a drag to listen to.

Well, What Makes “Interesting Lyrics” and “Interesting Music?”

I believe the following examples are ways we as songwriters can make our songs more interesting to hear:

Interesting Lyrics Interesting Music
  • Introductory verse frames the “story” of the song
  • Song contains just a kernel of meaning, and builds emotion around it
  • Rhymes/word rhythms sound natural
  • Wordless introduction lasts just long enough to set a mood
  • Main melodic theme of the song is strengthened between verses with accompanying, grounding chords
  • Main melody is toyed with between verses, or a secondary melody is added

Wait, This All Looks a Bit Formulaic

I admit, this seems more like a mathematical formula or scientific theory rather than the stereotypically ethereal and beautiful practice of writing music. And I agree, sometimes good songs just form–they pop into existence in minutes, and it feels as if its chords and its words fit perfectly together without any help from you. But sometimes, especially if you’re struggling to write a new song, it’s hard to figure out what will be listened to and what won’t be.

That’s why I started coming up with this listing, as a way to educate myself about the creation of music (especially music that includes lyrics). Songwriting, at least for me, is kind of like speech-writing combined with music performance–you’re trying to get across a verbal message, but at the same time couch it within melodies and chords that are easy on the ear. How do you get someone to listen to a speech? You make it relatable and meaningful without being heavy. Same thing with a song–it must mean something and be memorable.

Summary

Boring songs, suffering from either lyric failure or melody/chord failure, do not have to stay boring! Thankfully, music and lyrics can be rewritten and revised till they both support each other, and an interesting and lovely song emerges. Believe me, it’s possible to make a previously boring song into something magical to listen to!

Saturday with the Spark

Picturestruck

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Have you ever been outside and been surprised by the beauty of light and shadow playing on an object? Or ever been amazed at the perfection of a flower blossom? Has anything, natural or man-made, ever looked so suddenly awesome that you just HAD to stop and take a picture of it with whatever camera was to hand?

If you have, you’ve been picturestruck. I get that way all the time, even though I’m not a particularly visual person usually. Sometimes I’ll see the sky in the daytime, for instance, and be awed by sunlight streaming down between cotton-candy threads of cloud; other times, the quiet loveliness of a full moon casting silver shimmers along the wide river close to my house will render me silent.

Taking care of the urge to capture the image before you is fairly easy if you have a cameraphone or small digital camera with you. It’s as simple as taking the device out of your pocket/purse, lining up the shot, and clicking the button. But if you’re picturestruck while driving, as I am so often, it can be difficult to balance your need to stay on the road with the desire to get an awesome picture right now!

I’ve been known to pull over to the side of the road long enough to fish for my phone and take the picture through my windshield, if I can’t stop long enough to get out of the car (or if it’s not safe to try to get out). But usually, I like to completely stop the car, get out, and take the picture without having to rush. Convenient parking lots are good places to stop for impromptu pictures, even if it does make me look like a tourist in my own town. LOL

Even if it might sound a little weird to practice this kind of art, I do enjoy it, and I end up with some beautiful images that I’ve even used in my web designs. Random spots of beauty in our world are always worth capturing for posterity if we can manage it, I believe.

Have you ever been picturestruck? Ever get any randomly awesome pictures? Tell me in the comments!