The Real Michael Lee

Art is full of subjectivity. Hell, the whole IDEA of art is subjective. The creative process, however is often seen as more objective. Contracts are signed, (in the before times) handshakes are made, and everyone involved gets a cut. But, despite what it says on a legally binding sheet of paper, who does the art REALLY belong to? Creatively speaking, does the singer “own” the song they sang, despite them not writing the lyrics? Does the author “own” the book if their name is on the cover along with a co-writer? If the individual didn’t create the whole thing themselves, is it really theirs?

To start I’d like to say I’m not going to get catty and rip into any artist working now. There’s no sense in tearing down someone more famous for their creative process. Instead this will be a brief examination of that process and how it could relates to the appreciation of the work as a whole.

When we listen to a piece of music or read a piece of literature, we’re typically “in the moment” and not thinking about who wrote what. People listening to Taylor Swift’s latest album aren’t wondering what words are her’s or if she wrote the melody, they’re thinking how much they like what they’re hearing. They don’t care that the liner notes are ten names deep for songwriting credits. They feel it’s good and, to them, it’s her’s because she got top billing. On the flip side, you have something like David Byrne and Brian Eno’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, wherein both artists get top billing and it’s much more distinct regarding who wrote what. The audience for that album KNOWS this, too. The same goes for a book. The book “How To Archer” By Sterling Archer is obviously not written by him, because he’s a fictional character. But the audience doesn’t care because they’re in the moment enjoying what they’re reading.

That enjoyment, in a way, translates to creative “ownership” where ultimately it is the audience who decides based on how the creative work is sold. To the Taylor Swift fans, those songs ARE her’s because her name is on the album and they like her, not the nine other people who co-wrote the song. She’s also the one front and center and singing the songs, so for all intents and purposes, to them, those are her songs. Who cares what the lawyers say. The fan base has determined who’s song they are and pop culture accepts this since that is how it is marketed. Now, if Taylor Swift put all of her collaborators on the cover of her albums, that would be a whole different ballgame.

Take for example the Rolling Stones. You don’t say Wild Horses is a Mick Jagger song, you say it’s a Rolling Stones song because that’s how it was marketed and that’s how fans accepted it. Sure, you can break it down to who wrote what if you want to, but odds are if you’re listening to the song that’s not what you’re thinking; you’re thinking it was a group effort because you were told it was.

In the world of literature things get a bit more muddled. You often see the more popular author’s name at the top of the cover with the lesser known co-writer’s name at the bottom in much smaller letters. While the book is not being directly marketed as solely a work of the more popular author, they certainly want you to see that name first.

Now, should art be enjoyed differently if you know the song or book isn’t 100% written by the “main” author, or if the whole band didn’t work together on the song? That’s ultimately up to the individual, but I feel it shouldn’t ruin the piece as long as there is transparency about it. If it’s a Milli Vanilli situation, then no dice. BUT, if the artist is clear they worked with others on the piece, I believe it should not lessen the enjoyment of the work. This goes for ensemble pieces too. If a song was largely written and performed by one person, but is labeled as a band track, it doesn’t have to be seen as anything other than a track from the band. The Beatles White Album is a perfect example of this. The whole band didn’t work on every track together (Eric Clapton was even secretly brought in by George), and the distinction between who wrote what is audibly clear, but the album is enjoyed as a work by the whole group and not per track by the individuals.

Creativity is such a fluid thing that it is often not owned by an individual. It is a shared experience. Understanding this is they key to enjoying a whole world of art. Just because the front and center author or singer didn’t write every word doesn’t mean it’s not their’s. It’s just a collaboration and the idea is their’s just as it is their collaborators.

I’m back with a full article this week (which was actually planned for last week). In my article “GOOOAAAALLLL!” Or: How to Actually Achieve Your Goals, I laid out a method of micro-scheduling your working time in order to reach your goals. Today I’m going to detail exactly how I apply that method to my current goal: writing my next album.

My first EP, Hold Still, was recorded over the course of about four months. I would work on the songs Monday through Thursday and didn’t really have a timeframe for release. If I had focused more I probably could have got the EP out sooner, but I was still learning a lot so I decided to take my time. However, prior to that when I was writing those songs, I was writing a song a week with a set deadline. See, originally the Hold Still songs were all for a now defunct podcast, wherein each episode would have a song to go with the topic. I needed to have them all done before we started recording and figured the song-a-week format would get them done in time. I found that working in this time-constrained manner made me highly focused and productive.

After Hold Still’s release I dabbled with some performance videos, but soon realized I needed to really keep the content coming and up my output. I decided to attempt the song-a-week thing again, but this time also RECORD the song. I knew the songs weren’t going to be as polished as I’d like them to be, so I decided they would be effectively demos for my next album. While that idea helps, it is still a fairly high bar and I needed to figure out a work schedule.

Originally I had planned to work a week in advance, but that only lasted two weeks for a reason I can’t remember, so I was left doing all the writing and recording in what is effectively 16 hours.

To accomplish this I focused in on each available hour of each day. The following is for a typical song (vocals, 1x acoustic guitar, 1x electric guitar, bass, drums).

Sunday: I have five available hours on this day, which I use to write the song. These hours are split up into two parts, with two being earlier in the day and the other three at night. During the day I need to have at least the chord structure and preferably the chorus finished. In the evening I then write the verses. Nowadays I write all my songs on my phone in an email draft. Because of this, I can write whenever or wherever during the day. This helps keep me on track for the evening when I’m finishing up the writing. On good days I’ve been able to finish the song earlier in the day while doing something else (often either grocery shopping or walking the dog). When that happens I jump in early to the recording.

Monday: I only have two and a half hours on Monday to work. Hour one is devoted to drum work and hour two is devoted to acoustic guitar work. The other 30 minutes are buffer for either objective.

Tuesday: Again, only two and a half hours here. Tuesday and Wednesday are interchangeable with their objectives because sometimes I need certain elements laid down before others. Typically Tuesday is vocals in the first hour and a half and the electric guitar in the last hour.

I also write my weekly article on Tuesdays. I cheat a bit here as I write this over the course of the morning in between other things. However I do have a self-imposed noon deadline, so it’s not just a “whenever it gets done” kind of thing. I prefer to write on a desktop computer, but occasionally (like when there’s a LAND HURRICANE) I’ve have to use my phone.

Wednesday: Three hours here. The first hour and a half is either devoted to more electric guitar or the bass. The last hour and a half is either bass or mixing. I prefer to have the song mixed by Wednesday night so on Thursday I can double check it. I’ve found that this intense work schedule can lead to ear fatigue from hearing the same thing over and over and over again. Having a day to come back with a fresh perspective can be very helpful.

Thursday: The home stretch. I typically work for three hours on Thursdays. The first hour is devoted to the final mix and the last two hours are devoted to creating the video/graphics, uploading it to Youtube, and creating the blog post. I also try to record my promos on Thursday nights, but that’s something that can wait to Friday morning if needed because I’ll have time then.

So there you have it. Reading back on what I wrote it almost seems insane, but it really does work to keep me on track. I’ve been doing this for fourteen weeks now and it’s worked so far. It is tough, as you are sacrificing a lot of free time, but in my mind it’s necessary to reach my goals. I also don’t plan to do it forever (I do have an intended stop date in mind). When I reach that checkpoint in the race I’ll likely slow down a little to allow for a more thorough examination and reworking of the songs from this project into the album. BUT I do still plan to keep a regimented work schedule to keep things moving.

Every creative blog on the internet is going to have at least one article telling you to set goals. Well, now I have one too! BUT, what I’m going to talk about is a bit more focused than “I want to be at such-and-such by such-and-such a date.” Yes, set that goal. It’s a prerequisite for everything else. But in order to get to there, you need to set hyper-focused micro goals.

What I’m about to dive into is what I’ve personally found to be the best way to keep myself on track to achieve a goal. This method has come from a lot of experimentation to see what works best for maintaining my personal creative goals. As such I am able to more consistently reach the goals I’ve set for myself. These can range in scope, but the method I’m about to lay out should help ensure you reach whatever goal you set.

Setting a large (macro) goal is a very good place to start. However, like a New Year’s resolution, often the macro goal can be pushed to the wayside without constant thought and progress. This is where the micro goals come in. By focusing on a path with checkpoints versus just the finish line, you gain more successes and more fuel to keep going to reach the end.

When I set my micro goals, I focus down to the hour of the day… “WHAT?!” you might say, how do you do that with all the requirements of being an adult? “What about my kids? What about my job? What about my FREE TIME?!” You’re not shirking any of that. What you need to do is figure out exactly when you will have the time on a DAILY basis to work towards your goal. Maybe even create a chart detailing each day of the week and what you typically have going on each day. Things obviously can change, but create a general idea of what you have going on so you can figure out exactly how much time per day you can devote to your goal. Having this knowledge will be important for the next part.

Once you know your daily schedule, set a weekly work schedule for yourself. (I specifically chose the word “work” because if you just see your goal as a hobby, it’s far easier to set it aside and forget about it.) Figure out what days you’re going to work and how many hours you can EFFECTIVELY work on those days (not piecemeal bits here and there, but when you can actually sit down and focus). It is important when figuring out your weekly work schedule to also factor in relaxing time for yourself. This is key to avoid burning yourself out. Build in a day or two for rest so you can recharge your batteries and clear the creative fog that can accumulate when one is working on something for too long. In short, you’re building a work week with a weekend.

Now that you have your weekly work schedule, look back at your main goal. Break that goal up into smaller pieces (checkpoints) that can be accomplished in a month. Now, break those pieces up into smaller pieces that can be accomplished in a week. Then break those up into daily goals. THEN go even further still and break those daily goals up into hourly goals. This might seem like too hyper-focused a level to work with, but breaking things down this far will give you more goals to reach and a greater sense of accomplishment. As humans we love to gain achievements (the video game industry realized this years ago), and the more we accomplish, the better we feel and we are all the more likely to KEEP going. So having attainable micro goals will give you constant fuel to keep working towards that finish line. Now you have your main goal, a timeline, AND built-in motivation to keep going!

One important caveat worth mentioning is be sure to set your checkpoints at a level you know you can accomplish. DO NOT try to take on more than you know you can do in a day/week/month. Setting manageable micro goals will prevent burnout. PLUS, if you end up accomplishing more in an hour/day/week, it’s just icing on the cake! If this starts happening frequently, great! At that point, however, you’ll want to re-evaluate your checkpoints so you don’t limit your productivity by making things too easy. It might seem counterintuitive, but without a certain level of difficulty, it becomes too easy to brush your micro goals off and say “I’ll get to that tomorrow.” Doing that says, on a subconscious level, your project isn’t worth your time. That sentiment can grow and lead to *gasp* goal abandonment. Your end goal is worth more than that!

So there you have it. It might seem like a lot of little bits and pieces, but those add up quickly and before you know it, you’ll have achieved your goal. Then you can move on to your next goal!

What is your goal? Let me know in the comments. Also, feel free to leave a comment if you have any further questions on this.

See you all Friday!