Mastery is a long road paved with patience and steady effort. But what about those rare moments when creativity strikes like lightning? These are the flashes that transform good into great.
This is still true. Delayed gratification, nay satisfaction, is real. Steady effort will help you improve over the long haul.
BUT, you are already a master of your own life and have valuable work to share with the world! Don’t wait. Instead, ride your own creative lightning.
Let me explain… As you create, be ready for flashes of brilliance. They will happen and are unpredictable.
Breakthroughs Happen Randomly and Regularly
Did you just read “random” and “regular” in the same title?
Yes. One of the reasons to keep showing up each day is that at some point, innovation will happen. You will surprise yourself with your own ideas. A concept might fall in your lap. Excitement might grow.
I was coaching a songwriter the other day about how certain he is that it takes him several hours to get into a creative flow where he makes art that he is proud of. After some reflection, he realized this belief was outdated. In fact, most of his most memorable and impactful songs came in a flash that surprised and excited him. Sometimes he wasn’t even making music when the idea struck him.
Many songwriters describe a flash of brilliance and a song coming together exceptionally quick. Here’s a few examples:
Stories of Lightning-Quick Creations
The Allman Brother’s Midnight Rider took only 45 minutes to write. In an interview about finding the title for his song Melissa at the ripe old age of 17, Greg Allman makes a side comment about his amazement that Midnight Rider took only 45 minutes to write. Here’s a link to the video on Facebook if you want to hear the story: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1266127354171558
“With Midnight Rider… It felt as if I had nothing to do with it.” -Greg Allman
Seal’s Mega-hit “Crazy” Was Done in 25 minutes
One of my favorite singers, Seal talks about learning to write music and barely being able to play guitar. And yet (at the 4:00 min mark) he mentions that the entire song Crazy came out of him in 25 minutes.
Since these are so fun, here’s a few more examples:
"Losing My Religion" – R.E.M.
Peter Buck, the band’s guitarist, came up with the riff while practicing on his mandolin and turned it into the foundation of the song in 5 minutes! The lyrics were composed and sung within an hour.
"I’m On Fire" – Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen wrote his huge hit “I’m On Fire” in just two minutes. He recounts, “That was literally a song I wrote in two minutes. Didn’t even think about it. Didn’t think it was ever going to be on a record… And if you go to iTunes now, it’s the No. 1 favorite song out of every song I’ve written. I wrote that in two minutes!”
“Play That Funky Music White Boy” – Wild Cherry
This song was written during a short break at the band’s steady gig after being told they needed to add some dance music to their set. From American Songwriter:
“I finally told the guys ‘how about if Led Zeppelin did “That’s The Way I Like It” (KC & The Sunshine Band)?’ So I walked out and I wrote down exactly what was going on with us. I had the first two verses and chorus written by the time we hit the stage. And I wrote the last verse in the car on the way home.”
How to Catch Your Own Lightning
As I’ve become a songwriter, I’ve noticed that is can be helpful to work on multiple songs in a single session. Bouncing around helps keep me on the hunt rather than banging my head against the wall on something for too long. This morning I was listening to several of my voice memo recordings and was coming up with new lyrics for several songs in a row that were really exciting to me. I just add to the voice memo as I huff and puff on the stair stepper. There is something about being in motion that helps me hear my music differently.
Of course time is required, but don’t underestimate the power of 20-30 minutes of work. If you ride the lightning and maybe you’ll capture some in a bottle.
So the next time you find yourself with just 20 spare minutes, grab your instrument or your notebook. Who knows? You might just capture lightning.
Conclusion: Embrace the Unexpected
Patience and dedication are essential to mastery, but don’t overlook the magic of those lightning moments. Embrace them when they come, and you might just create something extraordinary. Next time you find yourself with even a few spare minutes, pick up your guitar, notebook, or microphone. Ride the lightning—you never know where it might lead you.
Brilliant advice as always, thanks Dave!