Annie,
Thanks for the thoughtful and useful additions to the post.
Best wishes,
Tony

Great!

that was for Annie; but, Tony, you inspired it

Thanks for this thoughtful post. I agree 100%.

I once saw a musical based on a classic novel that takes place mainly on a fishing boat. I had the opportunity to talk with the composer before I saw the show. He said he had had not done any research on public domain folksongs sung by sailors. As I watched the show, I felt he had deprived himself; that the traditional songs would have taught him something of the actual lives of sailors and the spirit of the sailor’s life.

I had pored over folksong books as a child. So, while I was watching the musical, I realized I’d seen an old movie adaption of the same novel. The movie was underscored with those same sailor songs. The music added to the movie’s authenticity and tone. My feeling was that the composer of the stage show didn’t learn enough about the world he was writing about before going to work on the show.

When I am writing in a new genre, I sometimes Spotify tunes in that genre and then make notes. This is an especially good way to find out about chord progressions in that genre and how the lyric lies on that progression, how the story is developed so the emotions of the lyric go along with the emotions of the music. In any case, I agree — our writing will be original if we hold originality as a goal.

Also, if you don’t learn about what people did before you, you’re going to have to make all the mistakes for yourself and that will just eat up your creative time!

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Rich!
TC

Expecting that to happen without the prior learning is like expecting a field to blossom with flowers, but without ever having seeded, watered or fertilized it.