Writing Lessons from Joni Mitchell

by Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Open Book
November 18, 2024

I often look to books for inspiration, but I just got back from seeing Joni Mitchell play in L.A., and as I was sitting at the Hollywood Bowl, with the moon rising over the hills, I realized how much I had to learn from the legendary artist sitting in the centre of the stage.

Lesson 1: Collaboration

It's so easy, as writers, to work in isolation, but being at the Joni Mitchell concert, watching a full stage of musicians create together, reminded me how powerful collaboration can be. It inspired me to get a meeting with my writing group on the books, and to reach out to a dancer friend for feedback on an in-progress manuscript about a former dancer. Even just conversations about writing with other artists is so validating and enriching!

Lesson 1.5: Intergenerational collaboration

The one thing I can't stop thinking about is how intergenerational Mitchell's collaborators were. Yes, Elton John, Meryl Streep, and Annie Lennox were there - her peers, but the stage was also filled with much younger artists - Brandi Carlile, Jon Batiste, Celisse, and Marcus Mumford - who are all around forty years Mitchell's junior. It inspired me to not just look beyond my immediate peer group for collaboration, and reflect on how rich and rewarding intergenerational creative relationships can be.

Reminder: You can apply for mentorship through the Writer's Union of Canada's microgrant program, and through the Canada Council for the Arts' Research & Creation program .

Lesson 2: Multidisciplinary creation

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it was the merch table that reminded me that not only is Mitchell a legendary singer songwriter, she's also a visual artist. I've just started playing piano again after twenty-plus years of not playing the piano, and though I'm quite terrible, it's such a wonderful complement to writing. Novels take me at least five years to complete, but with daily practice, I can play Chopin waltz in a few weeks (okay, maybe months). Switching up the creative media I'm working in helps me not only feel productive (which I need!) but also opens me up to different modes of artistic creation and expression, which ultimately helps fuel my writing.

Lesson 3: Adaptation

I don't know a lot about guitar tunings, but apparently Mitchell's are notoriously complex and atypical, and she created them because, after having polio, her left hand was weak - a good reminder that you don't have to follow the standard rulebook, but can create your own template.

Lesson 4: Longevity

Joni Mitchell has been playing shows for the last sixty years - that is a long time, and it was a good reminder to step back and look at my creative life as a much longer, bigger entity than project to project.