1
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- Are there practical things that you do

2
00:00:01,640 --> 00:00:02,840
when you have writer's block

3
00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,740
or when you're feeling
a lack of inspiration

4
00:00:05,740 --> 00:00:08,723
to help you reset your mind?

5
00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:11,453
- Absolutely.

6
00:00:11,453 --> 00:00:13,680
I think you have to sneak
attack the page sometimes

7
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:18,680
and I think that part of going
from being a talented person

8
00:00:18,710 --> 00:00:21,970
to actually being a
writer is craft coming in

9
00:00:21,970 --> 00:00:25,130
when the idea doesn't
drop down into your lap.

10
00:00:25,130 --> 00:00:26,820
We all hope for those moments

11
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and we have a couple of them in our lives

12
00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:31,370
where the idea comes out fully formed

13
00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:32,767
and you go, "Thank you for that idea.

14
00:00:32,767 --> 00:00:33,977
"I'm going to put it down.

15
00:00:33,977 --> 00:00:37,270
"Oh, it came out exactly as
you intended, wonderful."

16
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That's very rare.

17
00:00:39,130 --> 00:00:43,510
More often than not, you're
sneak attacking the page.

18
00:00:43,510 --> 00:00:47,450
I've learned the best way
I get out of my own way

19
00:00:47,450 --> 00:00:51,010
is to really be anti-superstitious
when it comes to writing.

20
00:00:51,010 --> 00:00:53,720
Don't worry about being in this place

21
00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,800
and having the just right Moleskin

22
00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,900
and having a certain light in the air.

23
00:00:58,900 --> 00:01:01,839
I write best from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m.

24
00:01:01,839 --> 00:01:03,010
(audience laughing)

25
00:01:03,010 --> 00:01:03,960
Write.

26
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Write, write, write.

27
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In the moments I do feel stuck,

28
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I don't chalk to this is a block.

29
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I talk it up to this is an approach

30
00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:13,763
that isn't gonna get me all the way there.

31
00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:16,750
Sometimes I'll start with a rhythm.

32
00:01:16,750 --> 00:01:19,090
Sometimes I'll start with a lyric.

33
00:01:19,090 --> 00:01:20,500
If I create a piece of music

34
00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:22,340
and the lyrics aren't
flowing easily from that,

35
00:01:22,340 --> 00:01:23,760
I go back to that piece of music

36
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,453
and interrogate it until it feels simpler.

37
00:01:28,940 --> 00:01:32,200
The other great thing has been
working with other people.

38
00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,110
I write musicals.

39
00:01:34,110 --> 00:01:36,240
I have to work with other
people all the time.

40
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I work with choreographers.

41
00:01:37,750 --> 00:01:40,240
I work with lighting designers.

42
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,300
In those moments where Andy
Blankenbuehler comes up to me

43
00:01:43,300 --> 00:01:46,247
and he never does this and says,

44
00:01:46,247 --> 00:01:48,067
"I think I need a little more time

45
00:01:48,067 --> 00:01:50,960
"at the end of "Room Where It
Happens" to bring it home."

46
00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:52,820
You listen to Andy Blankenbuehler

47
00:01:52,820 --> 00:01:54,900
'cause that means he's
got a really good idea

48
00:01:54,900 --> 00:01:57,220
and he's going to bring it the fuck home.

49
00:01:57,220 --> 00:01:59,730
As he did at the end of
"Room Where It Happens"

50
00:01:59,730 --> 00:02:02,630
and I remember I would
always sit in the wings.

51
00:02:02,630 --> 00:02:04,860
That's one of the moments I'm not on stage

52
00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:07,460
and I would watch the end
of "Room Where It Happens",

53
00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:12,460
which is truly one of the
great stage endings ever.

54
00:02:12,740 --> 00:02:15,080
He jumps and the reflective
and the whole fucking,

55
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:16,147
and I remember just thinking,

56
00:02:16,147 --> 00:02:19,106
"I am such a dummy for not playing Burr."

57
00:02:19,106 --> 00:02:21,610
(audience laughing)

58
00:02:21,610 --> 00:02:23,920
And I felt that way the same
time during "Wait For It".

59
00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,857
I was like, "I gave all
the best songs to Burr."

60
00:02:28,900 --> 00:02:30,700
That was a moment where I felt that.

61
00:02:32,955 --> 00:02:36,590
It's about listening to the
people you're working with

62
00:02:36,590 --> 00:02:41,150
and also never running out
of approaches to the page

63
00:02:41,150 --> 00:02:42,780
and that comes with time.

64
00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:44,220
Because when you start out writing,

65
00:02:44,220 --> 00:02:47,140
it's just here are all
the feelings that I have

66
00:02:47,140 --> 00:02:51,330
and then you slowly chase your heroes,

67
00:02:51,330 --> 00:02:52,530
you figure out your tastes,

68
00:02:52,530 --> 00:02:53,610
you figure out what you do like

69
00:02:53,610 --> 00:02:55,540
and you don't like in
other people's writing

70
00:02:55,540 --> 00:02:57,460
and that informs your writing,

71
00:02:57,460 --> 00:03:00,810
and it all becomes tools in your toolbox

72
00:03:00,810 --> 00:03:03,500
so that you can approach
the page from any angle.

73
00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:08,500
- I wondered if after
the success of "Hamilton"

74
00:03:08,630 --> 00:03:11,000
there was any writer's block

75
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,200
or intimidation about
taking on the next project.

76
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,993
When you've had such a
global success like that,

77
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can it be paralyzing?

78
00:03:19,670 --> 00:03:22,410
- No, you have to see it as freeing.

79
00:03:22,410 --> 00:03:23,797
You have to see it as

80
00:03:23,797 --> 00:03:26,360
"Hamilton" is the first
line of my obituary.

81
00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:27,193
Done.

82
00:03:28,220 --> 00:03:30,112
So now what do I do?

83
00:03:30,112 --> 00:03:33,387
(audience laughing)

84
00:03:33,387 --> 00:03:36,360
- I don't have anything
like that for my obituary.

85
00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,520
- Handled, it's done, and so great.

86
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:40,930
By the way, I'm very proud of it

87
00:03:40,930 --> 00:03:41,900
and I'm very proud for that

88
00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:43,690
to be the first line of my obituary.

89
00:03:43,690 --> 00:03:47,060
But then it means I can get
really weird if I want to.

90
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I can go any direction I want.

91
00:03:49,410 --> 00:03:53,360
So it forces you to interrogate

92
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,020
what you say yes to in a very real way

93
00:03:55,020 --> 00:03:57,857
because it's, "I don't
have to be doing this.

94
00:03:57,857 --> 00:03:59,373
"I want to do this."

95
00:04:02,820 --> 00:04:05,927
It's freeing, actually, because you think,

96
00:04:05,927 --> 00:04:08,677
"All right, that's
handled, legacy handled.

97
00:04:08,677 --> 00:04:10,827
"What else can I get
done in my time here?"