5 ms·

I've heard this sentiment expressed for the creation of music and art as well.

telesilla 11y ago
I'm a composer as well as a software developer. There is no way in hell I could plan an interesting piece of music. You really just have to wait for it to come, however importantly it does mean you have to be ready to listen: i.e. put yourself in environments and states of mind that are most receptive and be extremely well-honed on your craft on a technical level so you can execute well.
- derefr 11y ago
  I think this is a sentiment most people share, because most creative people only output—at most—a few masterworks in their lifetimes. I bet the people who are constantly pumping out works that, on their own, would be considered achievements—the Picassos and Frank Zappas and Stephen Kings of the world—have a pretty different view on how much of creating something good is inspiration vs. a schlepp.
  - Swizec 11y ago
    Any famous writer I've ever read about has said that the amateur waits for inspiration, whereas the professional just sits down and gets to work. 12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping.
    - soft_dev_person 11y ago
      Yes, this is so important to communicate. I think "waiting for inspiration" is a bad approach and bad advice for anyone who want to do something professionally. Unless you are inspired 20-40 hours per week, only hobbyists have the luxury of waiting for inspiration. Also, how will you ever improve in something if you only do it while inspired? And how will your inspired work be any good if you have no practice and experience to build upon?
      - Swizec 11y ago
        The main thing is that getting 4 masterpieces is extremely likely if you produce 10,000 works, and next to impossible if you produce only 4.
        cJ0th 11y ago
        > The main thing is that getting 4 masterpieces is extremely likely if you produce 10,000 works Yes and no. Once you succeeded in creating a masterpiece it can become incredibly hard to ever create something worthwhile again because success (especially when rewarded by the markets) can screw up your mind for good. You loose your sense of wonder, you feel the pressure to have success again and so on. It could very well be that you just create more of the same or get worse due to this. I think bands that are considered one hit wonders might provide a good example. It's a bit like an optimization algorithm that found a local optimum but can't escape its current neighborhood.
        allengeorge 11y ago
        Also, you (hopefully!) learned something while failing at those 9994 attempts that you fed into the 4.
    - visakanv 11y ago
      > 12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping. I've been writing almost every day for probably about a decade now. The reality of it is a little more nuanced that that. It's more like... 20% of the time you were inspired, you'll realize that what you produced was still crap. Similarly, about 20% of the time you were schlepping, you'll realize it was actually pretty good. And about maybe 20-30% of the time, you'll find yourself getting 'inspired' midway through a schlep. And as you do it more and more often, you start subconsciously preparing things in anticipation of the work.
      - Swizec 11y ago
        So, 20% chance of crap while inspired, 36% to 44% chance of good while schlepping? I'll take those chances. Especially if it increases my chance of getting started at all. Remember, the only option with 0% chance of great is not doing anything.
        visakanv 11y ago
        Yup, exactly!
- hypertexthero 11y ago
  This reminds me of John Cleese’s [wonderful lecture on creativity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qby0ed4aVpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qby0ed4aVpo). A rough [transcript](http://genius.com/John-cleese-lecture-on-creativity-annotated http://genius.com/John-cleese-lecture-on-creativity-annotate...).
golergka 11y ago
Yep. You're just playing around with stuff, create a lot of drafts and play with them if you feel that they're fun. And then, suddenly, one of the drafts doesn't get dull; surprisingly, it gets more and more interesting the more things you add to it. And then you realize that this one is actually done.
- cableshaft 11y ago
  Maybe, although in my experience a piece of work is never really done, you just eventually realize you have to declare a stopping point and move on to the next project. A software's features could always be improved, a book can always be revised further, a song could always be tweaked or rearranged, you can always knock the sand castle down and try to make the parapets straighter this time. Most of my projects have a wishlist of features, 80-90% of them eventually get cut when I decided I was finally, finally going to release the damn thing.

I'm a composer as well as a software developer. There is no way in hell I could plan an interesting piece of music. You really just have to wait for it to come, however importantly it does mean you have to be ready to listen: i.e. put yourself in environments and states of mind that are most receptive and be extremely well-honed on your craft on a technical level so you can execute well.

derefr 11y ago
I think this is a sentiment most people share, because most creative people only output—at most—a few masterworks in their lifetimes. I bet the people who are constantly pumping out works that, on their own, would be considered achievements—the Picassos and Frank Zappas and Stephen Kings of the world—have a pretty different view on how much of creating something good is inspiration vs. a schlepp.
- Swizec 11y ago
  Any famous writer I've ever read about has said that the amateur waits for inspiration, whereas the professional just sits down and gets to work. 12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping.
  - soft_dev_person 11y ago
    Yes, this is so important to communicate. I think "waiting for inspiration" is a bad approach and bad advice for anyone who want to do something professionally. Unless you are inspired 20-40 hours per week, only hobbyists have the luxury of waiting for inspiration. Also, how will you ever improve in something if you only do it while inspired? And how will your inspired work be any good if you have no practice and experience to build upon?
    - Swizec 11y ago
      The main thing is that getting 4 masterpieces is extremely likely if you produce 10,000 works, and next to impossible if you produce only 4.
      - cJ0th 11y ago
        > The main thing is that getting 4 masterpieces is extremely likely if you produce 10,000 works Yes and no. Once you succeeded in creating a masterpiece it can become incredibly hard to ever create something worthwhile again because success (especially when rewarded by the markets) can screw up your mind for good. You loose your sense of wonder, you feel the pressure to have success again and so on. It could very well be that you just create more of the same or get worse due to this. I think bands that are considered one hit wonders might provide a good example. It's a bit like an optimization algorithm that found a local optimum but can't escape its current neighborhood.
      - allengeorge 11y ago
        Also, you (hopefully!) learned something while failing at those 9994 attempts that you fed into the 4.
  - visakanv 11y ago
    > 12 months from now you won't be able to tell what you wrote while inspired and what while schlepping. I've been writing almost every day for probably about a decade now. The reality of it is a little more nuanced that that. It's more like... 20% of the time you were inspired, you'll realize that what you produced was still crap. Similarly, about 20% of the time you were schlepping, you'll realize it was actually pretty good. And about maybe 20-30% of the time, you'll find yourself getting 'inspired' midway through a schlep. And as you do it more and more often, you start subconsciously preparing things in anticipation of the work.
    - Swizec 11y ago
      So, 20% chance of crap while inspired, 36% to 44% chance of good while schlepping? I'll take those chances. Especially if it increases my chance of getting started at all. Remember, the only option with 0% chance of great is not doing anything.
      - visakanv 11y ago
        Yup, exactly!
hypertexthero 11y ago
This reminds me of John Cleese’s [wonderful lecture on creativity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qby0ed4aVpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qby0ed4aVpo). A rough [transcript](http://genius.com/John-cleese-lecture-on-creativity-annotated http://genius.com/John-cleese-lecture-on-creativity-annotate...).

golergka 11y ago

Yep. You're just playing around with stuff, create a lot of drafts and play with them if you feel that they're fun. And then, suddenly, one of the drafts doesn't get dull; surprisingly, it gets more and more interesting the more things you add to it. And then you realize that this one is actually done.

cableshaft 11y ago
Maybe, although in my experience a piece of work is never really done, you just eventually realize you have to declare a stopping point and move on to the next project. A software's features could always be improved, a book can always be revised further, a song could always be tweaked or rearranged, you can always knock the sand castle down and try to make the parapets straighter this time. Most of my projects have a wishlist of features, 80-90% of them eventually get cut when I decided I was finally, finally going to release the damn thing.