Write the garbage

While I was at Berklee College of Music one of my composition professors said that phrase to me, “write the garbage.” I wrote a piece for a class and told him that I didn’t think it was very good. So that’s what he said, “write the garbage.”

He then explained what he meant. Write. Keep writing. Write so much that you get good. If all you can write that day is garbage, then write the garbage. Write the garbage until you write well. Just keep writing.

I like that mentality because that mentality doesn’t believe in writers block. It also acknowledges that composing is a skill that you need to develop. Being good at something that you rarely do is difficult, but if you regularly practice then you’ll get better, just like anything else.

Write the garbage. Get it out. Then write the good stuff.

ISJ