Songs and Stories

Our work as songwriters, which at this point seems like was in another lifetime, and our work as storytellers is really the same thing in so many ways. First there is the re-write. It happens in all four elements: the lyric for the song, the melody/arrangement for the song, the manuscript for the story, and the artwork for the story. In music we used to say that hits were not written but, instead, they were RE-written. So, with that philosophy in mind, that same approach is applied to the stories that now consume our lives.

The two illustrations attached to this post illustrate the point of the re-write somewhat. You'll notice in the rough sketch, Robin's right arm is at her side. A subtle change of placement felt better and we went with that for the final piece. That same tweaking has always been a part of our method whether it is the songs, the stories, or even the bits we write for our radio show.

The illustrations, by the way, are for the story, "You Count, I Count."