Are You Ready?
One of the greatest lessons I learned in my first semester of Graduate School at Indiana University in the Fall of 1994 I still remember and utilize to this day.
There are three types of people: people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who say, “What happened?” - Harvey Phillips, via David Baker
When I began this Substack in September of 2022, I made you the promise of one post a month. So far, so good. My intention was to post on the first of every month. Easy to remember, easy to find on the calendar, and coming up with something to share every 30.4 days seems like an achievable task.
And then, February happened!
28 days? What the actual February???
As I sit at my kitchen table on February 28th, at 9:22 pm, I’ve got nothing in the Substack hopper ready to go. I’ve got two drafts of about thirty-four words, and one that is close to making a point at around 214 words, but there’s nothing there there.
I’m staring off at the wall of inspiration in the playroom and this eclectic IKEA bookshelf filled with books and junk and crap and art and festive lights and several bushels of whatnot and I think back to my auditioning days.
And there it is. A theme.
I love GIFs.
ARE YOU READY?
Prior to April 2012 (the month of the last audition I ever took), the first of the month meant one thing to me… check the AFM Classifieds!
At the beginning of each month, myself, along with every other unemployed musician, and underemployed musician who wanted to be employed by an orchestra checked the audition ads in the International Musician, the monthly publication of the American Federation of Musicians, as well as on the modernized website of the AFM. Scanning, scanning, scanning the ads, wondering when and if there would be an audition for me in a few month’s time.
When it showed up, you did the drill: Update your résumé, update your cover letter, print them both out, place them in an envelope, mail them as soon as possible… and wait. (Yes, these days it’s all done electronically, but my memories live in antiquated spaces.) Somewhere between one and four weeks later, the orchestra would write you back, providing you with all the details of the audition, to include, most importantly, the list of audition excerpts.
If you were a young musician, or an older inexperienced musician, you’d see a list like this and possibly freak the hell out. Look at all that friggin’ music! I’ve never played Mendelssohn 5. And Berg? Who the hell plays Berg???
The conventional wisdom is that if you saw this list and lost your shit, it means you have lots of learning to do and you likely should not waste your money on airfare and hotel. In other words: YOU’RE NOT READY.
(Yes, my musician friends reading this, we can all name at least one wunderkind 17-year old whose mom dropped them off at the audition, and they played amazingly and made you sound like a distracted child. Keep practicing…)
But Jaaaaaay, what does this have to do wiiiiiiiiith—
SHUT UP, NAGGING VOICE!
ahem…
Opportunities in the writing world aren’t convenient.
-You’ve got a great story that no one wants.
-You found a literary journal with a short acceptance window and you furiously edit a piece down, thus ripping the guts out of it, and it gets rejected
-You query your story during the wrong time of year and your beloved WIP falls into a vacation black hole, never to be heard from again.
How do you combat this never ending saga?
Your novel is a byproduct of a marathon you ran, and should never be hurried. It’ll get done when it’s done. #keepfuckingwriting
Your dedication to the craft is never-ending, and despite the WIP, you generate one short story a month, one flash fiction piece a week, one 100-word-story a day, and add it to your collection. Why? Because you #keepfuckingwriting
If you’ve made it this far on the list, go back one step and… all together now… #KeepFuckingWriting
One of my friends changed his mindset with auditions. Instead of waiting for an audition, he keptfuckingpracticing. He always had a Bolero that was better than the day before. His Ride of the Walkuries kept on riding. His William Tell Overture told his story again and again. He was constantly ready.
In 2009, I took the audition for the Annapolis Symphony. On their audition list, similar to the one above, I was under the impression that the applicant could either play the Sarabande from Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite, or play a solo of choice, not as similar to the one above. I opted for the latter, as my solo of choice was always at the ready, “Syrinx,” originally for solo flute, by Claude Debussy. I first played it in 1994, and still do to this day.
When I arrived to the hall on audition day, the personnel manager informed the candidates that the Bach would be heard on the first round, and the solo of choice would be heard later in the day.
But… but… but…?
But the Bach is the most commonly requested solo on every bass trombone audition, and even without the music, I had it, I knew it, I played it from memory exactly as I had been playing it for even longer than the Debussy, and it was great. (Phew, right?) I’ve been with Annapolis since that day.
As I type this, the annual #the100DayProject is taking place on Instagram. In 2000 and 2001, I chose to take on the challenge of writing a 100 word story every day, and posting it on my timeline. Beyond those two years, I have close to 300 100-Word-Stories at the ready for anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Are those the only things I need in my writer’s toolbox to be “at the ready?” Not at all, but they’re the building blocks for my amazing legacy of writing that will live on in infamy. Here’s what else I have at the ready:
-the ability to craft a plot at a moment’s notice (I see you NYC Midnight)
-the ability to provide friends, family, and industry professionals samples of my work
-a wonderful community of writers to cheer, support, constructively critique, and for me to give back the same way
-fucking red hot fucking determination, damn it.
It took me 61 minutes to write this post before the first of the month. For this particular task, I was ready.
And why??? Because I #KeepFuckingWriting!
Be dogged. Be determined. Be dedicated. Be ready. The remaining question is… Are they ready for you?
Write on!