Many years back I taught myself how to read musical notation, and all the various symbols for tempo, dynamics, etc., so I could write down the musical ideas in my head. Later, I got a very simple music notation program to make my compositions look more professional. I never got around to taking formal lessons.
I’ve written about 50 short pieces over the years, but I had to hire a concert pianist to play them due to their complexity and simply because I cannot play them in real time. Here is one example, and you can hear (and see!) the contrapuntal texture, or “contrary motion” which makes it hard to play!
I enjoy writing music and also poetry and short stories. A while back, I woke up in the middle of night with an idea for a poem, and quickly wrote it down before I could forget it. But this time, instead of showing the sheet music, I decided to make a “Tone Poem” by incorporating one of my other piano compositions with it, letting the words and music tell the story.