Your Protagonist’s “I Want” Song

Posted on by Sable Aradia

By Kathryn Craft

Today’s mad skill comes to us via Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music and lyrics for one of my favorite musicals, Wicked, based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel of the same name. The show tracks the early life of Elphaba, the girl who is destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West. On an episode of American Songbook at NJPAC (full episode here), Schwartz spoke of including, early on in his musicals, what he calls the “I want” song. I think we novelists can learn something from contemplating the intent of this song, which in this case is the protagonist’s first.

Read the full article at Writer Unboxed.

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I'm a Pagan and speculative fiction author, a professional blogger, and a musician. I'm proudly Canadian and proudly LGBTQ. My politics are decidedly left and if you ask for my opinion, expect an honest answer. I am owned by a cat. I recently lost my dog, who was my boon companion, and I'm taking the loss hard. I used to work part time at a bookstore and I love to read, especially about faith, philosophy, science, and sci-fi and fantasy.