📜Respecting the idea📜

Lin-Manuel Miranda writes "Wait for It"

Lin-Manuel Miranda was heading to a friend’s birthday party when inspiration hit.

He was knee-deep in the six-year process of bringing Hamilton to life and the phrase “death doesn’t discriminate” popped into his head. There on the A train, he writes it down. It grows. The chorus comes to him, and he knows it’s describing Aaron Burr.

When he gets to the party, he shakes his friend’s hand saying, “Happy birthday. I gotta go,” and leaves. Miranda finishes “Wait for It” on the train ride home.

Speaking about moments like this he says, “What are you going to do? Lose that idea because you decided to have a drink with your friends? It’s not worth it.”

Of all the excuses you’re comfortable using to skip out on a social engagement or to duck out of a party early without saying goodbye, would “I have an idea” make the list? Imagine a friend declining your invite because they felt inspired by a short phrase (trust me, bro, it has potential).

Perhaps the oddest thing about Lin-Manuel Miranda is, he has nurtured the ability to respect an idea before it has the respect of the world.

Sources

Lin-Manuel’s Q&A at the Bronx Theater High School

Huge thanks to Billy Oppenheimer’s Six at 6 newsletter for putting that chat on my radar.