I write music when I'm free and for no particular project in mind.
When you do a writing job for a studio, one of the things you want to do is satisfy the expectations of your employer. That's a little bit different than when you sit down and write something to satisfy yourself, because then you're the employer.
I'm a very slow screenwriter. It takes time for me to write a screenplay. Also, I feel it's not my strength.
I'm writing a record of comedy songs. I'm doing all these collaborations with artists. I bring them lyrics and they write the music to it.
So where a lot of people will spend three weeks on one song, I will write 10 in three weeks. Maybe the song that they sculpt is going to be as successful as just one of the 10 that I wrote.
What's that line from TS Eliot? To arrive at the place where you started, but to know it for the first time. I'm able to write about a breakup from a different place. Same brokenness. Same rock-bottom. But a little more informed, now I'm older. Thank God for growing up.
When I write about a 15-year old, I jump, I return to the days when I was that age. It's like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly.
When I was younger, I was able to write with music playing in the background, but these days, I can't. I find it distracting. Even when the music is just instrumental or has lyrics in a language I don't understand, the clash between the voices in my head and the song can be very disorienting.
I don't watch television! At least not when I'm traveling. For some reason, I have always found it depressing to watch television in hotel rooms. I try to use that time, as well as time on planes, to write.
You set up a story and it turns inside out and that is, for me, the most exciting sort of story to write. The viewer thinks it's going to be about something and it does the opposite.
I think one of the great moments of my life was when I could write musician on my passport.
When l write my own stuff, that's my only alone time. From wake-up to going to bed, I'm with someone. I don't like to do anything alone. I guess it's insecurity. When I travel, I won't go anywhere without people to go do something. I'm happier around people; the more people the better.
I'm not the guy to ask to write a sequel.
I wouldn't be one-third of the player I am today if it wasn't for Avenged. They're an inspiring group of guys, and I'm constantly challenged to write things beyond my ability and then figure out how to play them.
When I write something that would have made me laugh as a 10-year-old, or would have scared me or would have excited me, I know I'm onto something.
I have always loved horror very much. I used to write stories for DC's House of Mystery. It was one of my first jobs writing for comics, and I loved it.
The world may be divided into people that read, people that write, people that think, and fox-hunters.
Critics are not creators. They rarely write great novels, invent new technologies, or come up with a great business idea.
I've never gotten hired for drama because I'm a good improviser. I don't think people who write drama scripts want you playing with them as much.
I spent 11 years at 'The Daily Show,' and I learned everything there about how to write funny, how to write funny on topic.
When I write a record, I don't even touch a computer. I don't even bring my cell phone.
You don't just go to the studio and say, 'I'm going to write a hit.' It becomes a hit when people like your compositions.
I had grown up loving movies and had always wanted to write them.
Part of me wants to stay hidden; it's no coincidence that I write movie music. It lets me stay in the shadows, in a way, but still lets me be expressive.
I aspired from early on to write a novel, to be in the 'New Yorker,' to be on Broadway, and at least in a fleeting way, I got all those things.
A book comes and says, 'Write me.' My job is to try to serve it to the best of my ability, which is never good enough, but all I can do is listen to it, do what it tells me and collaborate.
I knew I would read all kinds of books and try to get at what it is that makes good writers good. But I made no promises that I would write books a lot of people would like to read.
There are no Rabbits in the north-west. This statement, far from final, is practically true today, but I saw plenty of Lynxes, and one cannot write of ducks without mentioning water.
When it comes to the personal essays I write, I just convince myself that no one will ever read them.
I spent many years trying to write a lot like Ben Folds or John Lennon or Rivers Cuomo. I think that's healthy when you're learning to write and seeing how chords fit together and how songs take shape.
I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.
People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.
I wanted to write a battle song for the Judeans but so far I can think of nothing noble and weighty enough.
Whether it's string writing or whatever, I try to write for what each instrumentalist can do best.
As far as I'm concerned, freedom is the most important thing to creativity. You should feel free to write in whatever way, whatever language, feels comfortable to you.
When I was in elementary school, I used to write letters to myself. I'd write letters and go 'Dear Kristen-at-16-years-old, happy birthday. I hope you're doing something.'
