writing advice from a bass player...

[lexcade]

i got some great *indirect* advice from Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones the other night that pretty much struck me as the most profound advice ever.

he was talking to a bass player who had asked him about a particular technique he was having trouble with.

you know what Mr. Wooten said (paraphrased)? "When you worry about technique, you lose the music."

so he proceeded to have the questioner stop thinking about the technique and thinking about the bass. he just wanted the guy to let the music flow. and it did. awesomely.

i was struggling with my query, like so many of us are now, and that idea just hit me. i was worrying too much about the style, the right punch, this and that... the query was actually getting in the way of my query, like dude's bass was in the way of his playing bass.

interesting, huh?

Vic went onto say that it's good to have theory and technique and all that, and once you get it down, you can push it to the back of your mind and let your fingers do the playing (or typing, i guess) because they'll know what to do. i guess once we get our characters and plot *somewhat* down, we can do the same thing.

just wanted to share that. it helped me quite a bit. hopefully it'll help someone else.

[Scott]

Very cool, thanks. Definitely a great idea for those who are having trouble getting going. You should be driven by instinct, gut, emotion, etc. not stuttering out of the gate with a stencil over your MS.

[Fallen]

Eesh, yep, that battle between writer and editor that goes on in us all. It's an evil one. Passion and logic, logic and passion. People have been sedated and wrapped up in a straight jacket for less...

[Simpatico]

This is very good advice, and something that also applies to many areas of life.

You’ll often find teachers or ‘masters’ or ‘gurus’ expressing this exact sentiment. From golfing to fighting to writing to driving to sex to almost any endeavor at which humans strive - those who make it look easy will tell you the same thing.

The mind is such an incredible thing. We still haven’t plumbed its depths. But, the fact is that often, if you let it do its job without interfering with your conscious B.S., it’ll often find its own way.

But then again, that’s easier said than done.

[lexcade]

so true, so true...

i just wonder if there's any great advice for really being able to let go. i've heard alcohol helps...