Last week I was quite sick and I just could not get up in the morning to get my daily hour of composing in. I’ve lost an entire week, and I’m on a deadline with scores due in March for a new commission. But I had to give myself permission to get better and make that a priority, and so I did.

Now today I feel much better, and you know what? I couldn’t see the importance of getting out of bed to compose! I had totally gotten out of the habit. Fortunately I was able to guilt myself out of bed, and I ended up taking my work in progress in a surprising new direction.

The trick is that even if you don’t feel inspired, if you are too tired, or you don’t like the work you are doing, or even if you only get one or two measures written, you’ve got to have that habit of creativity every day. Stick with it; it’s important!

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But hold on. Explore the money angle a little bit. Is it possible to have a co-commission? In other words, will the person or organization that is commissioning you allow someone else to commit money to your commission? Say, for instance, you get a commission for a small chamber orchestra piece for $500.

If you are willing to do the legwork, and know how to play the politics right, you might talk another organization into putting a little money in to that commission, too. You might say, “So-and-so Orchestra in the next town over would like to commission a piece, too, and they are willing to put up $500. How about a co-commission?”

The beauty of this is that it allows you to guarantee performances in two venues. Typically, once your piece is performed once by the commissioning organization, that’s it. But here you have two commissions for the same piece, guaranteeing more than one performance, and earning you more money for the same work.

But you do have to be a skilled negotiator. Which group gets to have the premiere? What if they want to pay you less because it is a shared commission? (Be aware that some organizations have been given money by a donor and must spend it all, and probably demand exclusivity.)

You must be prepared to lead this process, while at the same time not offending anyone.

Good luck!

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