The goal of this book, which focuses on guiding composers as they prepare to write for choirs or already have works in progress, is to provide them with the confidence that every aspect of their scores will be easy for singers to understand and navigate, and to make it attractive, intelligible, and enticing for interested conductors. What this book isn’t is a compositional tutorial; it cannot replace the role of a composition teacher to assist the student in creating a moving work full of beauty, structural soundness, breathtaking inspiration, and a sound marrying of text to music. The product generated by notation software, such as Sibelius or Finale (or by hand—as rare as that may be), is a good starting point. The rigorous examination of, and implementation of, principles and concepts discussed in this book can be applied to these notational systems to produce a super product, all-encompassing, ready-to-go, and bound to please any musician who happens upon it. A tidy, engraved choral score produced by notation software without these markings is comparable to a lovely and ship-shape average early or mid-20th century house. Modified, and even enhanced with these ideas, that score can now be compared to a 21st century “smart house,” a home automation system which controls lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. Consequently, composers would be wise to produce a truly “smart score.” Why even trouble yourself to compose choral pieces when there are millions of them available already? Only you can answer that. But one can speculate that the impetus to create is just as strong now as it was centuries ago. While nobody is beholden to princes or dukes to supply music for pending occasions or obligated to write for church services as part of a job description, there are nevertheless ample opportunities to have your choir music performed. Conductors, publishers, and music distributors, as well as the general choral music consuming public, welcome and embrace works created by living composers, and feel that it is an essential part of their mission to do so. Working hand in hand with a composer, conductors and their singers, whether they be students or members of community or church choirs, will witness a collaborative association which will prove to be a healthy, interactive, and instructional experience. The composer will also benefit from feedback and overall involvement in the process. Conductors and publishers frequently seek and appreciate texts which are time sensitive and particularly relevant. Composers are habitually attuned to key secular issues of the day, as well as to spiritual and powerful texts and doctrines which have inspired religious people and clergy for centuries. Whether stirred to write simply because of a passion and a craving to do so, or to fulfill a commission (yes, they are still being offered), composers will always be motivated and determined to create. And we will all be eternally grateful and richer for it.