Writing is definitely an emotional release for me; a definite shifting of the gears.
As a type “A” personality I get my rest not by sitting down, but by changing the task at hand. I prefer to write about things that have happened to me or to others I know. Life really can be stranger than fiction and I’ve learned to recognize situations that are happening that would make for a good read or an excellent topic for a song.
Personally, tragedies tend to make me sit down and contemplate putting words on paper. I have always done this in the songwriting department. Not so long ago I was following a rather well known TV personality in my hometown on Facebook. Apparently she had just been relieved from her duties as the weather woman at WOAI (a local TV station in San Antonio, Tx). She was on to her next venture and had taken a job reporting the weather all over the world. This particular week she was in Dublin Ireland. She was very excited to be there; talking about all the castles and lush, green rolling hills and all. Then, the next day, his post was far more somber.
Her FaceBook post read;
“The rain in Dublin is befitting.
My father passed last night.
I will always be my Daddy’s little girl.”
The hardest part about writing a song is to say everything you need to say, but get it all said in only 2.5 to 3.5 minutes. Here was this young woman just out and off into the world and her father dies while she’s a million mile from home. No chance to say goodbye. No final kiss. No last, “I love you.” It haunted me and I was so sad for her…
RAINING TEARS IN DUBLIN
Mitch Stephen, Copyright 8/1/2010
The phone rings, a voice speaks
Telling me my life’s forever changed
The deep breath, the heart sinks
I’ve never been so sad to hear your name
If I’d have known your last day here
I’d have smothered you in kisses
Held you ‘til you begged me to let go
But I’m so far away and gone
‘Hind castle walls with bridges drawn
There is no way to bid my fair goodbye
Oh it’s raining tears in Dublin
It’s raining tears in Dublin
Tonight
The thoughts race, the mind blanks
When did I say “I love you” last you heard?
The clock ticks, the page turns
I will always be my Daddy’s little girl
And if I’d have known your last day here
I’d have buried you in wishes
Sung your lullaby the whole night through
But I’m so far away and gone
This cloudy day, this night of long
There is no way to bid my fair “Goodbye”
Oh it’s raining tears in Dublin
It’s raining tears in Dublin
It’s raining tears in Dublin
Tonight
When I write songs the words and the melody arrive at the same time. I do not play a melodic instrument when I write. I simply hear the music in my head. Imagine singing your favorite song to yourself, acapella but with your own words instead of the words the rest of the world knows. Keep singing to yourself and making up words as you need them. Change up the melody and phrasing just enough so that the song is no longer recognizable. Now, picture yourself doing that while you’re driving in your car. That’s how I write songs and I could never write a chapter in my book while driving down the road. I have to be sitting and typing when I’m writing a book.
While writing a book is not like writing a song in many instances, there are some things I do while writing both book and song. obviously, a person could take the stand that we have all the time we want and/or need to get our point across when writing a book, but on the other hand, I think we can all appreciate authors who get to the point quickly and vividly. When I finish writing a chapter, I use that songwriter ear and eye as I review my work. Did I convey what I wanted the reader to receive? Could I have gotten it done with fewer words and still been as effective? Then, I trim wherever I can without stripping the story bare.
Much like writing a song I find that the sentences in a book have a sort of melody as well. What do you call it? …the rhythm??…the voice??? Whatever it is I hear it when I read a good piece that draws me in and keeps me interested. There is a flow just like in a song. Ands just like a song we need to be very careful as we move from emotion to emotion or from the verse to the chorus. It’s an art.
I almost never stop writing a song because it’s not an original thought. Mean, how many songs are there about lost love or the working man or the love of a mother or father. You name it and I’ll bet there’s a song out there about exactly that and it’ll blow your socks off when you hear it. So, I write whatever comes to my mind and don’t worry about if it’s been written about are not – it’s a given. I believe it’s quite possible that every song in the universe has already been written and we are just rehashing them all by now. But for some reason I have this need to feel my book ideas are unique and different if I’m going to spend the time to write them. It’s almost as impossible as trying to write a completely original song.
I almost quit writing the book My Life & 1,000 Houses because I felt I was not saying anything original; that everything had already been said. Then, a former dean of veterinarian medicine at A&M University, who was reading my manuscript as a favor, convinced me to persist. He explained that very few things in this world are original, but, my voice and my way with words was uniquely mine. Furthermore, if I reached anyone with my voice, in my way, with my book, and it helped them…then my book was absolutely worth writing. I chose to continue after that conversation. Charles Hall was right. I have reach people in ways I never imagined. While not everyone will connect with me, there are those hat do…and that connection is very strong.
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Mitch Stephen is author of the book My Life & 1,000 Houses. He has been a full time investor since March ’96 and has flipped over one thousand properties in his career. In 2007 Mitch was honored by the San Antonio Real Estate Investor’s Association (SREIA) when the board voted to dedicate the offices in his name.
This author is also an avid songwriter, taking honors at the 2005 Tejano Music Awards, winning “Crossover Song of the Year” for his part in co-writing the song “Who’s That Gringo” performed by multiple Grammy Award winner David Lee Garza and group Los Musicales; Co-writer Billy O’Rourke. Hear much of Mitch’s music at www.MitchStephen.com -over 45 original songs!
My Life & 1,000 Houses: Failing Forward to Financial Freedom is the autobiographical account of an amateur entrepreneur who stumbles upon the longstanding revelations of money, business, love and life while struggling to find financial freedom. Readers will see what happens to this entrepreneur after the “get rich” seminars and CDs and experience his highs and lows as he moves into becoming a professional at his craft.
My Life & 1,000 Houses: Failing Forward to Financial Freedom
ISBN: 9781419698545 Paperback
ISBN: 9781452499963 e-Book
ISBN: 9780615305561 Audio CD version
Also Available on Kindle, Nook and e-Audio Download
Find all versions at www.1000Houses.com
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Cheryl
