- This is the third post of a four-part guest blog by Katrena Allison. Her theme for these blogs has been the music-writing connection. Katrena is a talented musician and writer, submitting articles for publication in magazines and updating her blogs regularly.This week she’s highlighting the value of a mentor. Katrena and I have reversed roles, as I was her piano teacher when she was growing up, and now that I’m a writer, she’s my mentor. Pretty cool, wouldn’t you say?
- Mentoring Can Be Invaluable for Musicians and Writers
- A great mentor will balance the good with the bad. The best critics will identify your strengths and weaknesses and let you decide what you want to improve. If Dicy had simply given me a pat on the back every time I played a piece on the piano, I would have stagnated. Instead, she pointed out when I missed a note or rhythm. She would play the part for me, with me, and encourage my efforts to get better.
- I remember one recital in which I had practiced for hours and hours and hours. I knew the 9-page song by heart. I could have played it in my sleep and probably could have played it with my feet. When the big day arrived, I walked up there with shaking hands, ready to play. And I played, but my fingers were on the wrong keys. I kept playing. It sounded terrible for a page or two until I finally positioned correctly. As I came back to my seat, I knew I had blown it, but Dicy smiled and made a point of saying how proud she was that I kept going. I didn’t freeze or quit. She also mentioned that when I began playing for a church that it was important to keep playing while everyone was singing, and I did.
- Writing mentors may become cheerleaders but also encourage us to move to the next level. They might find something that works well while encouraging us to do other things differently. An editor that takes the time to give detailed feedback, however painful it might seem at the time, is often doing so because he or she believes that the writer has potential. You might want to throw darts at the screen, but after a few deep breaths and some extra scans of the information, you might find jewels within the bucket that seemed like all sand and mud initially. The editor is preparing one to write for others just as a music instructor is trying to develop skills that others can truly enjoy and appreciate.
- As a mentor, it’s important to keep in mind not only technical aspects of the craft, but emotional ones as well. As you can see through Katrena’s experience learning to play the piano, it was important that I was not only her music teacher, but also an encourager. Now that our roles have reversed, I’ve learned skills from Katrena’s expertise and gained confidence from her encouraging words. Katrena’s fourth post on the writing-music connection will be Thursday, June 28. In that post, she will address the work involved in publishing an article or story.
- Click on these links to check out Katrena’s blogs:
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