Virginia Emrick

Marty Panzer: An Interview with a Master Lyricist

Virginia — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:55:00 +0000

Written by Virginia Emrick for The Muse’s Muse

Those who can, do…and if we’re very lucky, they also teach.

In a throw-away world, finding something that’s built to last takes effort. Learning to build such a thing takes skill, perseverance, and a bit of guidance.

Since 1994, master lyricist Marty Panzer has provided songwriting guidance to all levels of writers, encouraging them to write lyrics that succeed and endure. Something Marty knows a lot about.

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Event Ticket Discounts

Virginia — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:49:04 +0000

Sports lover? Theatre goer? Comedy fan? If you like to get out and enjoy live entertainment (and who doesn’t?), there’s a great service for buying tickets without breaking the bank. Check out Goldstar. Their site offers half-price tickets to events in the California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington DC, New York and Boston areas, with more areas on the way. Events include theatre, comedy, sports, live music and spas. Sign up is free.

What are you waiting for? Go to the Goldstar website now.

November ‘07 Update

Virginia — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:14:47 +0000

Life has been flying past faster than I can keep track of the date. That’s a good thing, so I’ve been told.

So, what’s happening in my life? Well, aside from my freelance work as a web content editor, I’ve been busy working on various children’s projects and just completed a new picture book called There’s a Monster in My Closet!

Monster is a cute story about a child describing the monster that took up residence in his closet. The story is being set to music and will be released in 2008 with a companion CD of the song and a narrated track for read-along. You can download the story on Story Link for a mere $0.99. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

There’s a lot of great stuff coming down the pipeline in 2008; so, stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Regards,
Virginia

Keep It Real – Make It Personal

Virginia — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 01:25:22 +0000

As a writer, I tend to have other writers as friends and we often share our work, usually still in draft form, with each other for feedback. This provides a unique view into the writing process that helps us grow as writers. In every piece a friend gives me to read, I can pretty much always find that friend buried somewhere the words in some way, big or small. It gives me the chance to crawl inside my friends’ minds and see how they approach their stories and what little bits of themselves they use to flavor the details. (more…)

Master Class from a Master Lyricist

Virginia — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:14:30 +0000

If you’re planning to be in the LA area this winter and are ready to take your lyric-writing to the next level, hurry over to the UCLA Extension website and register for Marty Panzer’s Master Class: Writing Lyrics that Succeed and Endure. The upcoming winter 2008 class features the Sixth Annual Concord Records Scholarship, where six students will receive additional classes and a private, one-on-one mentor session with Marty. (more…)

You’re Creative Just the Way You Are

Virginia — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 01:22:55 +0000

A while ago, a friend and I got into a little debate about creativity. (more…)

Little Boy Fingers

Virginia — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:29:05 +0000

Saturday morning & he walks down the stairs
Picks up the paper & he silently stares. (more…)

Theatre Beyond the Stage

Virginia — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:04:31 +0000

When going to the theatre, most people usually think only of the actors and the action, but there is much more to theatre than just these two aspects. Theatre-work also includes sounds; lights; and properties, otherwise known as props. All these other aspects make the theatre more complicated than it would seem to the unaware eye. (more…)

Open Call for Musical Theatre Lovers: Attention Book Writers, Composers, and Lyricists

Virginia — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:12:50 +0000

Do you want to hone your musical theatre writing skills while getting feedback from professionals and your colleagues? Do you want to learn the ins and outs of writing for musical theatre? Then, you owe it to yourself to check out the Academy for New Musical Theatre (ANMT). (more…)

What’s Helium?

Virginia — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:45:30 +0000

Recently, I happened upon one of those mass user sites where people submit articles, stories, and poems on all sorts of subjects and earn a little money for posting them. I thought, “What the heck? Let’s check it out.” So, now I’m a full-fledged member of Helium.com.

So what is Helium? Well, besides being a gas that makes balloons float and people talk in a squeaky voice, it’s a website full of information, opinion, and creative writing. It’s been defined as a combination of Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers, and About.

As a writer, you get to rate other writers’ articles and the higher an article rates, the more visible it becomes, which helps increase the writer’s earnings. It’s also another way to get feedback on your work. If your articles consistently rank in the top ten, you know readers are enjoying and benefiting from what you have to say. In the end, that’s really why I write.

Anyway, I hope you’ll check out my articles using the link or button above as well as reading the ones I post here. And, if you’re so inclined to join, let me know. I’d love to read what you write and I’d be happy to send you an invitation to join.

Regards,
Virginia