Monday Inspiration: Criticizing Your Creativity

Good morning creatives.

This morning my brother sent me the quote below and all I could do was smile. I go through this same mental cycle every time I create something new. The excitement of your ideas overwhelms you and your vision of what you want to create is nothing short of perfect. But somewhere in between creating and finishing, it just doesn't come out the way you want it to. Now you are overwhelmed with self-criticism. But all we need to do is take a step back, look at our work and realize what great progress we have made.

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“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

Masterpieces take time.

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Monday Inspiration features other businesses, people, and writings that keep me inspired as a creative. Hope you enjoy them!