Vision And Compromise

To what extent when writing, do you come up with something that falls short of the original conception? And what do you typically do in that case? Discard or settle for second best?

I'm speaking in vague terms on purpose, so interpret this however you like. 

Get frustrated and scrap the thing and mumble "I'm a terrible composer" over and over again every night as I fall asleep.

It may sound unusual, but I actually like it when I can come up with something I wasn't planning. One of the most enjoyable things for me in composition is seeing how my initial ideas are able to grow, develop and change.

This is the main reason I've moved past concept-music and theoretical systems. The ideas themselves were beautiful from a logical perspective but composing with them was kind of like hitting the '=' button a calculator and the musical result would usually leave a lot to be desired. This approach wouldn't leave much room to fall short of the original idea, but it definitely fell short of being musically stimulating (for me). For some people, composing with systems and concepts produces music they like by a comfortable means. I now prefer a more open-ended approach completely guided by intuition. I definitely fall short of small-scale things from time to time with things like pacing, direction, etc. but I'm trying to accept more of these things for the sake of keeping up creative momentum.

I don't write music in my head. Instead, I figure out how to bring ideas to life through the hard work and learned skill (though always learning) of writing music.

EDIT: I read the post wrong, my comment is off topic. Forgive me, I am a human.

To what extent when writing, do you come up with something that falls short of the original conception? And what do you typically do in that case? Discard or settle for second best?

 

I'm speaking in vague terms on purpose, so interpret this however you like. 

Rewrite. - If something in the piece brings the rest down, I get rid of it and revise the rest of the work to make things fit together. If something good comes up that seems to leave everything else lower, I do the same. Takes forever. Who's a terrible composer:

I haven't scrapped anything yet, although there are some projects on hold until I know enough to make them work.  As long as you're on the right side of the grass there's hope.

Personally, I believe that inspiration is everywhere; I just need to know where to look. To that end, if I think of something that differs from the original plan, I do my best to incorporate it into the piece. It's just a new strand of inspiration. And when it's all over, you will have collected so many different strands that you will have woven a colorful and richly inspired work. At the same time, if I think of something that simply will not work, I have to be disciplined enough to turn it away and stick to the original plan. But, of course, for anyone it ultimately depends on what the composer wants.

My vision tends to adapt itself to what I can do realistically with my material in a couple of days at most. I don't set lofty or ambitious goals for myself. Typically, I would not say "I'm inspired to compose a sonata using this techniques or concepts"; rather I will come up with some building blocks first and then (or rather, at the same time) see how I can organize them into a self-contained, coherent musical statement; typically a short chamber composition. Then I'm quite flexible; sometimes I think I want ABA and get AB because I can't find a way to return to A, or I want about three minutes but I get two... Since nobody needs to know what the original plan was, as long as the final outcome is not a total horror (in which case it goes to the trash) I have no qualms about sharing it. It saves a lot of frustration.

Occasionally, the opposite happens and some trivial and mindless exercise or experiment (a pastiche, or exploring an abstract system, or harmonizing a folk song...) that are not meant to be anything turn out a reasonably valid, shareable piece.

To what extent when writing, do you come up with something that falls short of the original conception?

Almost every time.

And what do you typically do in that case? Discard or settle for second best?

Previously, the latter; now, the former.