I never bothered with New Year's resolutions until the songwriting took off.
I'd finished "I've Been Waiting" in 2000 and considered it a one-off. Maybe I'd write another song if I stumbled across something else I felt like writing about. If not, that was fine too.
But by the end of 2001, I'd written 13 more—one with a friend and the rest by myself. Upon realizing that I'd averaged about a song per month, I thought, That's my goal for 2002. 12 more songs.
And I did it. I churned out one song every month until late 2003, when I started a job that sucked up a lot more of my time. These days I average around four songs a year. Which is all right under the circumstances, but it means I need to set different goals for myself and for Cinder Bridge.
I haven't been sure how to go about it.
The 12-songs goal worked because I already knew I could do it. I just needed the extra incentive to keep plugging away. I don't know how to sell more CDs, or get more bookings for Cinder Bridge, or do more effective advocacy for ME/CFS.
I don't know which of these things should get top priority, either. Advocacy is certainly the more lofty goal. On the other hand, if Cinder Bridge gained a huge following, a lot more people would care about what I had to say.
Yesterday, the last day of 2009, I finally settled on one goal: to find our target audience.
We need to know what kind of people like our music. We need to know what other artists those people like. We need to find out where they are, and how we can reach them.
That's where we need to put all our efforts. We can't reach any of the other goals until we do.
Readers: If you have any ideas, please leave a comment. And enjoy the first day of 2010!
3 comments:
Old fans of Supertramp and Billy Joel?
I have some friends who every year do a 30-songs-in-30-days challenge!! Me, aiming for my 12 this year.
Good luck on yours , 4 fine songs beat 100 mediocre ones any old day
JK: We've heard Billy Joel before. Supertramp is a new one on me, though. :) What do you think the similarities are?
JF: Good luck with your 12! It's a good number if you have time, because you always know if you're ahead or behind depending on what month it is.
Someone commented on a songwriting blog that she wrote some huge number of songs per year, and of those, maybe four would be any good. BUT ... she couldn't write the four good ones without writing the bad ones. Fair enough. :)
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