On Co-Writing

I attended a co-writing meeting the other day. It was a group of about 50 people paired up in the genres of our preference. I told the "country" group that I like Sugarland, Rascal Flatts type of songs, and this lady raised her hand and said she did, too.

For the next half hour, we brainstormed a song. I wanted an upbeat love song and she seemed really open to it, too.

I discovered co-writing is fun and difficult for me.

Fun because we could piggyback on each others' efforts. Fun because it's cool when someone gets what you mean.

Difficult because it's hard for me to relinquish control of my own creative work. She had brought a laptop and was taking notes, and I wanted her to write down some phrases I had in mind, but she wasn't writing all of it. And I have a hard time letting someone else drive. As she formulated a melody (she had a beautiful voice), I told her, "Is it verse or chorus?" and she said, "I'm just playing with it."

I haven't been back since. I'm not sure co-writing is for me right now. But one thing's for sure. I want to complete that song. When she e-mails it to me, I will hunker down and see where it leads.