Compress and Accelerate

“Compress and Accelerate” is a phrase I first heard from Mike Scott, a music teacher and friend back in Boston who is also a creative writer of great skill and insight.

In helping me with a writing project awhile back, he explained that you keep your story moving and heighten intensity and impact by using fewer words – Compress! Mike could always find overblown prose and extraneous words and he crossed them out mercilessly, always achieving an improved result.

He urged me to find and maintain the delicate balance between providing essential depth and detail while keeping the story vibrant, alive, and charging ahead – Accelerate! If you build momentum and forward motion in your story, you maintain the enthusiastic attention of your audience. It is much easier to lose momentum than maintain it.

What is true in writing fiction is also true in writing lyrics, spoken word, and in writing music itself. It is also true in writing proposals, promo copy, liner notes, resumes, articles, or dissertations, not to mention speeches and oral presentations. In short, these concepts are relevant to most things you do for your art and your career.

Students come to McNally Smith College of Music to advance their knowledge of music business, music production, and to improve their skills in performance, technology, and composition. There is much that the experienced professional educators in our college can offer students seeking careers. The core of music education today must be to provide students with the business skills, the technical savvy, and the artistry to succeed.