Jill Murray

I feel kind of silly this morning.

Maybe 2 years ago I was thinking to myself that the advantage musicians have over writers is that pretty much any time they want, they can go play a show, or perform on a street corner, and connect with an audience right away.

It seemed unfair that they had such an easy way to get feedback, recognition, and, well, paid, on an immediate satisfaction, workshoppy, casual, indie level. I mean, even when I publish a book, I can’t just take the book to my friend’s bbq and say “throw this on the stereo for me” and sell a few volumes by the end of the night. Reading is, by nature, nothing like hanging out with friends, listening to music.

I was looking for a way to bring a bit of that to writing, and Smartygirl and I came up with the Itch public reading series, which was cool, but ultimately difficult to organize and promote on a monthly basis, what with all the writing we’re both doing on top of our jobs.

What didn’t really hit me properly until this morning is that THIS is the way for writers to get that immediate return feeling that musicians enjoy all the time. This kind of blog, right here, is the thing writers have that musicians don’t. This is my streetcorner, my jam session, my $2.50 wing night with live music. Down there on the right is my overturned hat.