Monday, January 31, 2011

good taste

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.



via

18 comments:

tractorgirl said...

if you keep going, you'll get somewhere. x tractorgirl

The Cat and The Cow said...

Wow that is really good! Thank you for sharing!

lejardengirl said...

this was the perfect words i needed today...well everyday...thank you so much...by the way...i love your work...xo

Dolan Geiman said...

Great advice. Thanks for sharing.

BananaSaurusRex said...

That makes me happy.

The Oak Leaves said...

:)

Chloe said...

I loved this post, Liane. Thanks for sharing this with us.

erin said...

i needed to read this tonight so very badly. if i could hug you, i would.

Monica said...

Wonderfully put!
Thank you for sharing!

jenifer lake said...

perfect. love him!

Marie said...

so perfect; thank you for finding and sharing. just what i needed to hear.

Anonymous said...

I read this once some time back, and can relate so much more this time. Such an great concept to consider!

An Urban Cottage said...

This is interesting because I've always attributed the disappointment to EXPECTATION. You have an expectation that your work is going to be one thing and the result of oftentimes different. Sometimes those expectations are for ourselves, sometimes they are others' expectations for us. And they are burdening.

It doesn't mean the result or work is bad. It's just different that the maker expected. But it does take good taste to know, or to see, whether or not it's still good. That's the hard part.

Anonymous said...

Hey! I'm in that stage! I thought I was going crazy that I absolutely hate everything I've made in the past year. This gives me a little extra hope to keep going. Thank you so much for sharing!

Jane Flanagan said...

Love this! SO many people expect to be talented or not. Like it's something innate rather than learned and cultivated and practiced.

Anonymous said...

so true. so insightfull.

Mandy Behrens said...

thank you liane. i needed to hear these words of encouragement right now. i see a glimpse of where i want to be and it may take longer than i want, but i will make it. so grateful for your friendship. xo

m.e.w. said...

well that's a relief.