A word of advice for artists

Have you ever found yourself trying to create something beautiful, but your execution just doesn’t match your vision?

This happens to me all the time. I know what I want to do and I know it could be amazing… in someone else’s hands. I just don’t seem to have the skills to make it happen. I can’t tell you how many half-written stories I have lying around. How many drawings that are scrunched up in the bin. And how many projects I have never finished. When I was a teenager I wanted to learn the violin, but I gave up after just one term because I couldn’t stand the sound of myself practising.

Good news: it’s ok! This process is NORMAL. And according to writer and producer Ira Glass, EVERYONE goes through it. Plus, he has a solution (but you’ll have to work for it). Watch this little video if you ever feel like your creative output doesn’t stand up to your taste.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Do you feel better now? Me too. Now back to work.

6 Comments

  1. Oh I’ve seen this before but I had forgotten about it! 10,000 hours, that’s it. Have you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? Fascinating…

  2. Halahblue

    Just started the blog school. Looks like it’ll be some fun inspiration. I’m also doing NaNoWriMo this month, so we’ll see which one gains the most of my limited writing time. I love this post and I really love the video!!

  3. Save the being impressed part til we see if I complete them both. :)

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