Luckily I haven't fallen into the trap, which has claimed so many writers, of living from day to day thinking 'Ah, I'll write a book about that.'
Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck.
I'm not saying that every song has to be an all-time hit or the greatest ever music. That's not what you should set out to do. But you have to find out what will work best for a particular story or theme or backdrop, and discuss how not to make it a cliche or fall into such traps.
The trap is that you then just start doing stuff about Hollywood, which I don't really want to do.
Once you are successful, there's a very seductive rhythm at work that keeps you wanting to outdo yourself. By the end of 'Spirit' I felt like I didn't want to get into that trap. It almost makes you cartoon-like.
Modeling is a great beginning, but it's also a kind of trap if you have any ambition or a mind that needs to be stimulated.
I didn't want to spend the rest of my life playing Norma Desmond over and over again.
