2.07.2011

feeling this today.

"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

7 comments:

  1. Hi Teresa - I'm feeling this today too. Got here via Stephanie McCloud's FB.

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  2. Thanks for this - I can't believe that you would need this kind of encouragement, you kick so much ass!

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  3. Love this! Thanks for posting it.

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  4. Stumbled, upon your blog, blinking like Alice down the rabbit hole, and so glad I did! This post is brilliant, succinct and articulates a fear so many of us feel. I had never analysed the unease and frustration I often feel, and this post has done it for me. Thank you for bringing clarity! Could I quote your post on my blog - with a link - at some point? Belinda x

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  5. Hi Belinda, Isn't this a perfect way to sum things up? This is just a quote by Ira Glass that I stumbled upon somewhere, so quote away! If you feel like linking back here as your source, that's great, but I'm not worried about it.
    Cheers, T

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