I have decided, at least this summer, to be a genre-by-month artist. I did Poetry Month in April and was so happy to see thirty new poems at the end of it that I’m going to try to be productive like that always–by tackling a creative project one month at a time.
May is Revise the Novel Month (as you know). Now the novel’s in the hands of some trusted readers. I do plan on thinking about it during the month of June, maybe doing some free-writes associated with my protagonists, but I decided that I would dedicate June to songwriting.
I’m a songwriter, too.
I have a Facebook page for my music: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nora-Bonner/44922051108
And a (really old) Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/norabonnermusic
I have come up with a Thirty-Day curriculum that’s pretty ambitious. I’m thinking it will require that I set aside at least an hour a day for playing my guitar and then some. I have geared up for this by playing five songs a day—you know, for the calluses.
Each day this month has a songwriting assignment. Some of them are to learn songs that already exist. Some of them are to write songs in different styles. My hope is that I’ll be able to get through a song without stopping (rather than say, nail it). I’d like to learn a bunch of songs that I can have in my repertoire for later nailing.
I will post the assignment on my blog and perhaps, if I have time, I’ll also post a link to a song that holds some significance in my life—not sure if it will be related to the assignment.
I will, if all goes well, come out of June knowing how to play thirty more songs than I did when I started. Ten of these songs I will have written and twenty of them are from other artists.
I invite anyone who wants to write songs to participate in that aspect. Lots of the assignments are lyric-driven. I’m a writer, remember? I think about the words first.
I also invite you to share songs and musicians with me. I want to know what you’re listening to. I want to know why—the significance of this music in your lives.
I don’t know if anyone will join me on this semi-crazy endeavor but if you feel compelled to do so, please do.
I can’t even tell you how excited I am for this.
(I’m also expecting this month to feel a bit like Cash in this song:)
Nora Bonner 