Old ways won’t open new doors
Oh, hi friends!
Old ways won’t open new doors.
That’s the saying I opened to in my journal just now as I was trying to think of something to share.
How appropriate for this moment.
It’s been comforting and necessary to live in our old ways.
But there are a lot of new doors opening.
Can you see them?
“Instead of banging my head against the wall in a fruitless search for perfection, I would loosen my grip on trying to control everything and let the songs exist as they are. Make them as good as I could in the moment and then let them go. Because that’s how the magic gets in, isn’t it?”
I was struck by this thought from my friend Jack Adams, who wrote on Instagram about the long journey to releasing his debut EP two years ago, and how he’s since released another EP, two instrumental scores for plays, and two full length albums with another one coming out in two weeks. (INCREDIBLE — go listen to them all here!)
We all search for perfection in different ways.
That sentence could use an edit. That idea hasn’t really taken shape, so I can’t send it out. Ehh, why not scrap this version and start over?
But wanting something to be good shouldn’t hold you back from wanting to do something, period.
Calling All Curious Writers
I’ve spent the past nine months in a weekly Zoom with the most clever and kindhearted writers — and it all happened because this time last year I thought, “Yes, I *will* apply for this opportunity!”
If you’d like to learn about writing musical theatre — namely, the ‘book’ of the musical, everything that is not a song — you should apply to Bookwriting Basics at the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop!
Taught by Drama Desk Award winning bookwriter Adam Mathias (a dream instructor!), you learn how to apply the fundamentals of playwriting to the craft of creating musicals. It’s been enormously helpful to me this year to work out issues of plot, story, structure, and more.
The application is due June 1 and the class will be back in person in New York this fall. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. The workshop is, amazingly, free.
(If you’re interested in the separate composer-lyricist workshop — that’s where I wrote The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel musical last year — that application is also available and due August 1.)
And if you’re not a musical theatre person, consider this a little nudge to apply for whatever big opportunity is on your horizon.
Swing away. You might find yourself striking the ball.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
You can also support my work by checking out my new motivational journal, Do It For Yourself, designed to guide you through your creative and work projects.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara