Ira Glass on Early Creativity
Oh gosh, I so relate to this Ira Glass quote. My taste and what I admire are so far from the work that I’m actually able to execute, it drives me crazy. And keeps me from working. You too?
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have.
We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
-Ira Glass
You heard it from Ira. We gotta fight our way through!
seen on Fresh Air’s tumblr, via Orangette’s twitter
4 Comments
prettyhumanbeings
Me too. This is one of my favorites. Tempted to pull a “dorm community bathroom” and and write it on a note and tape it to my mirror and string fairy lights around it.
Rachael
Love that idea! Although I’ve just realized that a sure way to ignore something is for me to put it on my fridge. As long as we can remember to bring it up in conversation…
The funny thing I’ve gone through the logic before in my mind, “my tastes are inhibiting my work,” but never acknowledge that it’s never going to get better until I do more work.
mmjmason
The truth is there – yet 40 + years later I find myself nearly entangled in the web I’ve created for myself – for protection?
“The funny thing I’ve gone through the logic before in my mind, “my tastes are inhibiting my work,” but never acknowledge that it’s never going to get better until I do more work.” . . . Rachael, hits it on the head. I’ve spent 40+ years of passive progress. Only now have I begun to step in to the ‘much guarded’ world of visual tangibility and significance – with perseverance I will flourish.
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