Schiff: CREATING IS IMPORTANT TO ME,
BECAUSE I KIND OF HAVE TO DO IT, BECAUSE I FEEL DRIVEN TO DO IT,
BECAUSE I FEEL UNHAPPY IF I DON'T DO IT.
A LOT OF WHAT WE DO IN STORYTELLING
AND IN CREATING BEAUTY, WE DO FOR OURSELVES.
I STARTED PLAYING THE PIANO WHEN I WAS 6.
FOR A WHILE, THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DO,
AND THAT'S WHAT I DID OUT OF COLLEGE.
WROTE MUSIC, HAD BANDS, ALL THAT STUFF.
I LOVED MOVIES.
THEY BEEN A WINDOW ONTO A WIDER WORLD
THAT IN LITTLETON, COLORADO,
WASN'T IMMEDIATELY APPARENT TO ME,
AND I WANTED TO MAKE BEAUTY,
AND I COULD SEE HOW THE MUSIC OF WORDS
AND THE RISE AND FALL OF STORIES WAS BEAUTY.
THERE ARE MAYBE WRITERS WHO JUST SPOUT THEIR VOICE.
YOU KNOW, THEY ARE THE MOZARTS, YOU KNOW, WHO IT JUST COMES OUT.
THEY DON'T HAVE TO CORRECT.
MOST OF US ARE MORE LIKE BEETHOVEN,
WHO WOULD RUB OUT AND ERASE AND ALL THAT STUFF
AND FIND THE VOICE.
I DON'T HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE.
I'LL BE IN BED IN THE MORNING, MAKING SURE I'M NOT QUITE AWAKE,
BECAUSE THERE'S A KIND OF CREATIVE PROCESS
THAT I KNOW CAN HAPPEN THEN AND MAYBE ALMOST ONLY THEN.
I'M GONNA NEED A SHOWER THAT DAY,
BUT I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT --
JUST GET UP IN THE MORNING AND TAKE IT.
THAT'S A WASTE OF A SHOWER,
BECAUSE I CAN GO INTO THE SHOWER,
AND THAT'S WHEN THE IDEA WILL COME.
DO THE DISHES. MAKE THE BED. TAKE A WALK.
THAT KIND OF CHANGE OF PHYSICALITY,
CHANGE OF PHYSICAL BEING, YOU KNOW,
SO THAT SOME OTHER PART OF THE MIND IS ENGAGED.
ONCE YOU'VE SAID, "THIS IS WHAT I'M GONNA WRITE ABOUT,"
THEN YOU ARE AN ELECTROMAGNET.
YOU'RE MAGNETIZING YOURSELF IN SOME WAY.
AND THE WORLD IS GONNA START GIVING YOU WHAT YOU NEED.
THAT CONVERSATION IN A RESTAURANT
THAT YOU WERE HORRIBLY EAVESDROPPING ON,
THAT WAS, TWO DAYS AGO, A USELESS CONVERSATION.
TODAY IT'S FOOD, AND TODAY IT'S GOLD.
YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT BENSONHURST.
THEY'RE FROM BENSONHURST. HOW CAN THAT BE?
THAT'S HOW A WRITER MAGNETIZES THE WORLD TO HIM.
IT'S A MYSTERIOUS PROCESS.
IT'S NOT CONSCIOUS. IT'S SOME OTHER THING.
THE MOVIE IN MY MIND
IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE FINAL PRODUCT,
BECAUSE FOR ONE THING, WRITING IS REWRITING,
AND THAT, TO ME, IS NOT A BAD THING,
AND THAT'S NOT A PAINFUL THING.
AND WE ARE IN AN INDUSTRY THAT'S COLLABORATIVE,
AND I LOVE THAT ABOUT IT.
IF I'M WORKING WITH GOOD PEOPLE,
THAT MEANS MORE IDEAS ARE COMING AND MORE GOOD IDEAS.
IT'S NOT ALL GONNA BE THERE,
BUT IT ALL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE IT BETTER.
THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, WONDERFUL WRITERS --
WE CAN ALL NAME THEM -- MANY OF THEM VERY, VERY FAMOUS,
WHO, IF YOU LOOK AT THE PAGE, ALL THEIR CHARACTERS
ARE SPEAKING IN THE SAME VOICE.
BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I DO.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO
IS DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN EACH OF THE CHARACTERS,
AND THEN MY VOICE GETS IN THERE SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY.
PEOPLE SAY, "WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW,"
AND THE WEIRD THING ABOUT THAT IS,
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW,
BECAUSE YOU'VE HAD EXPERIENCES WITHIN EXPERIENCES
WITHIN EXPERIENCES,
AND YOU DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE,
AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT THEY'RE LIVING IN YOU,
AND THEN, SUDDENLY, "OH, THIS HAPPENED TO ME.
I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN. I WAS NEVER --
I HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF IT IN 10 YEARS.
I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER USE IT.
AND IT'S THIS MOMENT IN MY STORY. GREAT."
TO EXAMINE THE PROCESS TOO CLOSELY AND TOO CONSCIOUSLY
IS TO SPOOK THE MUSE.
YOU REALLY NEED TO LET SOMETHING HAPPEN RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW,
MONITORING IT AND CERTAINLY TRYING TO FORCE IT.
THAT YOU CANNOT DO.
SO, ARE YOU HEARING VOICES IN YOUR HEAD?
NO, BUT YES.
SO MUCH OF WRITING IS EAR.
EVERYONE THINKS ABOUT INTELLECT AND IDEAS AND THIS AND THAT.
TO ME, SO MUCH OF IT IS STILL MUSIC.