Tasty morsels of sonic goodness

There is a kind of intricate fact about the books you have on your shelf. Some are for your enjoyment, others act as unavoidable reference in the field you are working on, while others go beyond what is purely expected from a book and as good wine, they taste and feel better when some time has passed.

I was lucky enough to find an affordable preowned copy of "The Fat Man on Game Audio" two years ago in Amazon (yes, it was under $17 by that time!), and everytime I go back to some of the chapters and tales that George Sanger wrote for it, I feel like I have learnt something that maybe is useful or not, but for sure offers a great point of view from years of experience and gives some inspiration to lead on, specially when tough times arise.

One of the chapters is called Planning for Greatness: ok, this is supposed to be in your mind if you want to be good at something, or at least, competent. The point doesn't focus on being different, and forcing yourself to be different just to differentiate and mark A difference. It is more likely about HOW you do things and WHY, because: greatness can't be predicted and greatness most of the time does not come on your regular schedule. George makes a comparison with dating: "greatness is kind of like that girl you dated, the very hot one whom you could never figure out how much, if at all, she actually liked you". If talking about creative processes, you need to "create an environment to recognize her and nurture her good-will by taking care of her, giving her attention, wine, and the music she likes". In the second stage, to know what to do with greatness to turn it into yours, it is "a duty that can brag about for the rest of your life". The last point to consider, named by Mr. Sanger as the G-Prong, says:

"Be ready to cancel the whole damn party and cut your losses if Snooty Miss Greatness stands you up."

That also leads to bravery, and letting things be out of schedule, as said before. That courage also "paves the way for humor, for a strong team, for friendship, and for admiration" so "dedicate yourself to a project is an empty act if it's not done with bravery". And I would say that bravery is what makes the salient result that doesn't come from trying to be different, but to mark THE difference, and innovate. But that attitude can lead to be "like a kid with a beach towel for a cape who thinks he's Superman". Even though it doesn't matter at all just because:

"Trust me, Brother, I'm tellin' you; the towel thing drives her wild."