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Watch The Video In Your Head<br />
By Peter Marksteiner<br />
For me, songwriting<br />
always starts with<br />
what I'm feeling. My<br />
son got married a few<br />
weeks ago, and I spent the<br />
better part of the last six<br />
months watching my wife of<br />
30 years on the emotional<br />
journey that for so many<br />
parents starts out uneasily<br />
as "my child is going away"<br />
but eventually comes<br />
around to a considerably<br />
more comforting "I'm so<br />
thankful he found someone<br />
who'll give him a life like we<br />
gave each other." It is these<br />
sorts of chapters in our<br />
lives - joyful but a little sad,<br />
excited but a bit anxious,<br />
that make for great songwriting.<br />
When I write, I imagine I'm<br />
watching a music video<br />
about the story I want my<br />
song to tell, and I keep a<br />
scratch pad close by to<br />
write down what I see<br />
unfolding on the screen in<br />
my head. One night about a<br />
month prior to my son’s<br />
wedding, as I started thinking<br />
about the big day, I<br />
reached for a pen and<br />
wrote the following:<br />
Cute little girl sprinkles<br />
flower petals down the<br />
aisle.<br />
Son SO HAPPY as the bride<br />
steps into his view.<br />
Wife squeezes my hand,<br />
saying without words how<br />
grateful she is that our son<br />
found a person who loves<br />
him as much as we do.<br />
With that shell of a story<br />
down on paper, I open an<br />
online thesaurus and a<br />
rhyming dictionary, then<br />
simply start meandering<br />
through language looking<br />
for words or phrases that<br />
catch my attention and<br />
relate to the overall storyline.<br />
I do this with a focus<br />
on trying to condense as<br />
much as possible, and on<br />
trying to tell the story with<br />
evocative imagery rather<br />
than literal descriptions.<br />
An hour and quite a few<br />
revisions later, I had:<br />
The petals are scattered.<br />
His young bride’s aglow.<br />
The look on his face says<br />
what I already know<br />
they were made for.<br />
She’s what I prayed for.<br />
And she’s his new girl now.<br />
You can listen to how it all<br />
came together at<br />
https://farfromperfect-<br />
buth.wixsite.com/mysite-<br />
1/music<br />
NOTE: I either own outright<br />
or have been given permission<br />
by the copyright owner<br />
of the images accompanying<br />
this email for submission<br />
to <strong>Write</strong> <strong>Away</strong><br />
<strong>Magazine</strong> for publication.<br />
/S/<br />
Peter R. Marksteiner<br />
www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk<br />
21
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