"When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say."
"Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise."
"What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?"
"You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another."
"In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life."
–– Patti Smith (b. 1946), American writer, poet, singer-songwriter and musician
Source: Patti Smith. Just Kids. New York: HarperCollins Books, 2010; p. 185. re: writing the play Cowboy Mouth with the American playwright Sam Shepard.
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