April 2026 Book Recommendation

I’ve learned (and continue to learn) a lot from musicians and the music industry. The music shift from CDs to MP3s prepared me for the ebook revolution. Streaming music prepared me for the popular subscription models and the change readers have with ‘ownership’. Contracts, music labels, publishing rights…this is a round about way of saying that books by long term musicians and ones about the music industry have helped me tremendously in my writing career.

I’ve learned that a life of sustained creativity is deliberate, it doesn’t happen by accident, it’s based on a series of daily choices and attitude.

So, it is with great pleasure I want to share my April recommendation: 12 Notes: On Life and Creativity by composer, producer and artist Quincy Jones.

If you want to learn how to go deeper in your craft, stop second-guessing yourself and build a body of work that lasts, this book is the ticket.

You’ll receive hard earned wisdom from a master who looks past the hits, the fame and the accolades and shares the foundation of a life built in and around the arts.

He offers twelve notes but these three notes will give you a head start.

1. Leave Your Ego at the Door

Quincy Jones learned early that the ego is the enemy of great work. What does ego sound like? It’s that voice that bristles with anger at feedback, insists that your first effort is genius. It’s the voice you think protects your soft center (you know the one, the one that contains all your true fears like you’re a fraud or not good enough) but that voice will kill your career fast and Mr. Jones knows this. He’s worked with some of the biggest egos in the entertainment industry.

Jones reminds us that the work—your writing—isn’t about you. It’s for the reader.

Be careful of getting attached to stalled scenes that make your work flat or painful rejections that keep your work from reaching an audience.

Letting go (of a perfect opening that slows a story down, a narrative that stalls, a beloved character that doesn’t suit a current project) is an act of bravery. It’s the act of an artist and a professional.

It means letting go of the need to be seen as a genius and, instead, becoming a storyteller.

Ego protects you. Humility makes you better.

2. Surround Yourself with People Who Will Tell You the Truth

Quincy Jones didn’t surround himself with yes-people. He surrounded himself with truth-tellers — collaborators who pushed back and challenged his instincts. They helped make every project stronger.

As a writer, who you let into your inner sanctum matters more than you think.

It can be tricky, however, to know who to let into the room. Just because someone gives you critical advice doesn’t mean it’s valid. Everyone has opinions. Not everyone can offer helpful feedback.

However, it is imperative to find one person (just one!) who you can trust to tell you their visceral reaction to your work—does a scene drag? Make no sense? Need to be cut?

That kind of honesty is a gift, even when it hurts a bit.

Jones knew that carefully delivered truth is what separates good from extraordinary. Seek people who are invested enough in your success to be honest with you.

Then take a deep breath and…listen.

3. Never Stop Being a Student

Into his eighties, Quincy Jones was still learning.

He never believed he had arrived. That hunger to learn and continue to grow is what kept his work extraordinary across seven decades.

The moment you think you know everything is the moment your writing becomes stagnant. Your creativity suffers too.

It’s easy to get comfortable. To only read in your genre. To stop studying the craft because you feel like you already know enough (you don’t).

Curiosity is what keeps a writer’s skill and imagination alive and growing. Read outside your genre. Study how other writers handle pacing, structure, dialogue. Dig into books on the craft, outside your chosen field. Pay attention to what moves you as a reader and ask yourself why.

Be that person in their eighties or nineties or beyond, who’s always looking beyond the horizon and sharing their wonder with the rest of us.

12 Notes is a short book, but don’t let its size fool you. It’s packed with ideas that may challenge the way you think about your own creative life and set you on a wonderful lifelong journey.

Twelve notes.

Endless possibilities.

Get your copy – Retailers link https://books2read.com/u/mVG5El

Get your copy – Public library link https://search.worldcat.org/