start with a word or phrase or scrap of song that came to me in the night. these are like seeds planted in the mind, and if i am lucky they will blossom into something interesting on the page. when things go well, i simply let my fingers do the talking. the pen dances across the page, and words appear. now, here's the curious thing. i used to think the words would form in my mind first, and then i would write them down. but when i closely observed what was actually happening, i realized i had it backwards. the words would form on the page first, and i would 