Kurt Cobain Didn’t Believe in a Normal Writing Process
What Kurt Cobain and Walt Whitman shared in common
Kurt Cobain’s song lyrics are emotional — full of pain, hate, depth, and creativity.
His songs are more impactful because they resonate with his character and life. You get the feeling that he meant what he sang and wrote, which is what people want.
People want the real story that ties to the universal story of life.
Nirvana’s hit single “Heart-Shaped Box” is about everything and somehow nothing all at once.
In other words, the raging ballad is about the perils of being alive, the poetry of worry, and the purity of art
The way he figured ideas for his songs and lyrics was by keeping a pen and paper handy.
I know that most writers do this. We’ve been taught by other great writers that making a few notes might lead to the next best-seller.
Cobain would write down notes and journal to figure out what he really wanted to say. These are great pieces of advice, but most people know and do this for their own writing.
What Kurt Cobain Did Different
Kurt Cobain didn’t always sing and write lyrics that made sense. It’s true — not all his lyrics mean something deep that would connect to the listener.
He wrote the same way Walt Whitman wrote “Leaves of Grass”.
Before people fight me for this, I’ll point out that Walt Whitman got lucky. Yes he was a good writer, but there’s a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that he was just trying to recreate “Leaves of Grass”.
They both wrote in a “no-sense” sort of way. They wrote to express feelings and emotions versus concrete ideas and opinions.
The goal is write something beautiful, pleasing, impactful — without worrying about the meaning too much.
Why people should step away from the standard writing process
The writing process doesn’t work for everyone. It’s not always a straight shot and some writing takes weeks or months. Some of the best writing comes from quick, handwritten notes.
We just don’t know what works best for cultivating creativity but having pages of ideas and notes, means that our mind is thinking and working its creativity.
I’m still working on my first book, and it’s starting to get embarrassing.
I imagined many things but rewriting a lot of the book was not one of them.
I’m worried that I’m wasting my time, but after writing many “useless” pages, I realized that I was actually getting somewhere.
Sure it’s hard. I want to give up. Sometimes I want to delete the whole document and head to the bar. I’d move on to another book though and end up in the same situation.
I’ve realized that this is writing, and I am just at the crux of my own writing process.
Kurt Cobain taught us more than the beauty of an old guitar. He taught us to capture life and writing in a way that is only possible through an uncaring, free, and bold style.
