The late, great Marvin Hamlisch's insight on creating an original, polished work (video).
To create something of real and lasting value, one must first find its essence. (As Hemingway put it, "First write one true thing".) Using 'The Way We Were' as an example, the above-linked video shows Hamlisch demonstrating that he does not attempt or expect to conjure up a complete song in a sitting, but instead to discover that song. He begins with a few simple, 'true' notes. Then he consciously disengages from it. "You live with that for a few days. You go to the A&P, you buy ice cream..." From there, he describes a collaboration – a dance, a duet – between the realms of the conscious and the subconscious.
To create something of real and lasting value, one must first find its essence. (As Hemingway put it, "First write one true thing".) Using 'The Way We Were' as an example, the above-linked video shows Hamlisch demonstrating that he does not attempt or expect to conjure up a complete song in a sitting, but instead to discover that song. He begins with a few simple, 'true' notes. Then he consciously disengages from it. "You live with that for a few days. You go to the A&P, you buy ice cream..." From there, he describes a collaboration – a dance, a duet – between the realms of the conscious and the subconscious.
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