Can writers be as cool as musicians?

Tip of the Day: music playlists can be a great way to inspire you for the book you are working on. I never like to listen while actually writing, because I'm not that talented to do both at the same time. However, I enjoy listening to the playlist before working on a project to get me in the mood.

Last weekend I was in Cleveland and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'm not a huge music person, in the sense that I don't constantly follow new bands or current trends. I'm just your basic music appreciator who loves to sing in the car as loud as possible--usually the wrong lyrics--just for the fun of it. But even though I'm not a die-hard rock and roll fan, I still love being surrounded by anything creative and find it incredibly inspiring.

Not only were the clothes and memorabilia fabulous to look at, but I particularly enjoyed watching videos of those that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Anyone that can have a career for decades and start an entire genre of music is completely fascinating to me.

From what I gathered here are the two main traits of what a musician or any one in an artistic field needs to have for continued success:

1.) You have to have a good grasp on who you are as an artist and always stay true to yourself.

2.) But at the same time you have to have the ability to keep reinventing yourself to stay relevant to your fans and the general public as a whole.

It sounds like an oxymoron. How on earth can you stay exactly who you are, but at the same time reinvent yourself?

And I'm sure if we could figure it out, we'd all be famous.

But I do think it's possible and I think we as artists need to strive for that if we want to keep being able to produce books that people want to read.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious