This week's tip comes from writer/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton.
Last night's Broadway Tony Awards made history, much like the show that it honored. Hamilton is the breakout Broadway hit about the nation's first Treasurer...done in rap and hip-hop. The creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda was interviewed on 60 Minutes. The show was nominated for a record sixteen awards...and won a record eleven, including Best Musical!
This is "part two" of the segment. At 9:20 on the timeline, Lin-Manuel describes his thoughts on writing (and creating). I think it has connections to storytelling, the concept of "back-story" and crafting a story. Incidentally, it took him six years to write this show. He states that it took him a year to write one song, In the Room Where it Happens. Here is what he says about writing:
I think of acting and writing as pretty much the same thing. It's about getting into the skin of your characters and seeing where they are and knowing how they've grown up. You have to know all this, like in your bones. What they've come up against, who they are; and then you just start talking as them, and you write until the rust comes out of the faucet and it's clear water; and you write down the clear water.
I think this is simply quite brilliant! In the future, I will certainly attempt to "Write until the rust comes out of the faucet and it's clear water."
P.S. Sorry if the video looks off center (and sorry about the Viagra ad). I tried several different ways to embed it and it keeps shifting. If you desire, here is a link to the CBS page (click on PART TWO).
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamilton-encore-60-minutes-charlie-rose/