When I lived in Byron (writing my first book) I used to drive to my friend Annie’s house in the hills for dinner on Sundays. I timed it to listen to Ira Glass on This American Life. I’d time it so I could pull over in the really mind-expanding, precipace-thinking bits. Not listened to one of Ira’s meandering, whimsical interviews about life? You should.
I love Ira. And I don’t think I’ve come across better advice than this for anyone who hurts, frets, doubts doing creative work. Which is most of us, really.
The gist is this:
1. Creatives know they have taste. They know they have a vision, an idea that could be special. It burns in them.
2. But when they start out in their respective realms, their output doesn’t match up to their vision. There’s a gap. They know their work isn’t special enough… and so…
3. Creatives hurt, fret and doubt… and then often quit.
But Ira shares:
4. This is normal.
5. The most important thing you can do is… more work. The only way to close the gap is to “go through a volume of work”.