When Lin-Manuel Miranda Speaks by Warren Bull

 

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I am a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, like many in the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking world. I pulled together some of his thoughts from a variety of interviews so I could present my idea of what some of his rules for writers might be. Granted, he writes songs in various genre and two languages rather than mysteries, but so what? Writing is writing. So, in no particular order, I think he would say:

“The first song in a mix tape is everything.” Actually, Miranda did say exactly that. When he was a student, he introduced himself to girls and made tapes of various songs for friends with the intention of indicating who he was. For writers, if you don’t hook a reader with the opening, you’ve lost the reader. Offer some reason to keep reading. Offer it quickly. There are a lot of other books out there.

“Nobody’s gonna write your dream for you.” If you don’t write what you think should be written, it won’t get written. Lots of people will tell you it has been done already. And it was already done better than what you propose. Or they will say, “Uh, nah. Try something else.” It’s not their dream so it costs them nothing to give it up. It’s your dream.

The composer expresses the idea that when you fall in love with an idea, follow through despite comments from others, the press of such things as making a living, falling ill or other life events. This includes saying “no” to family and friends when the idea demands your time and attention. Dedication to your muse will not make you popular, and it’s not likely to make you rich.