Musician urges Libertyville High students not to wait for inspiration during Writers Week presentation
Standing center stage in Libertyville High School's auditorium Thursday morning, musician Chris Mills described the role inspiration should - and shouldn't - have in the writing process.
"Don't wait until you're inspired," Mills told the roughly 700 students who'd gathered as part of the school's annual Writers Week celebration. "Write. And if inspiration happens, you'll be available."
That was particularly keen advice, especially from a songwriter who's been making music for more than 20 years and rarely has the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike like lightning - not when there are albums to record, concerts to play and bills to pay.
Mills, a Northwestern University alumnus now living in Brooklyn, New York, was among the featured guests at this year's Writers Week. Others included poet Anis Mojgani, author Ian Doescher and humorist Micaela Blei.
Students and teachers took to the stage, too.
The week's program concluded Thursday with presentations by Mills and filmmaker Ron Lazzeretti.
Mills spoke to rotating groups of students in four sessions Thursday morning. He talked about his writing process, and explaining how he begins by writing random words in a notebook and then shaping those words into phrases, and then into songs.
After describing how one of those lists of disconnected words became the song "Rubicon," he picked up an acoustic guitar and performed the tune for the audience.
Mills was moved by an essay Libertyville High senior Sloan Taylor read to the crowd at the beginning of one session.
Taylor's piece, "The War Within," was about depression and cutting herself out of a desperation to relieve her pain, and it drew Mills' admiration.
"Why was it so great? It was really, really honest," Mills told the crowd.
Libertyville High English teacher and Writers Week co-organizer Craig Schmidt said the presentations may help students appreciate writing in ways that can't be learned in a classroom.
"Hopefully they will take some of these things and apply them to their own writing," he said.
Cole Neumann, a Libertyville High sophomore who's also an aspiring songwriter, was encouraged by Mills' presentation.
"Seeing how he writes (songs), I might be able to do it better," Neumann said.