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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

“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

usrnm 4y ago
> All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste Or because it is a relatively simple white collar job that pays crazy money. Which is more likely?
- foundart 4y ago
  My understanding is that creative work pays little unless your work is very popular. See for example the distribution of royalties for music streaming or for authors of books. Given this low likelihood of monetary gain it seems unlikely the money is a primary motivator.
- libraryatnight 4y ago
  Making a living off ones art isn't easy. It's hard work generally just polishing the skill to a point people might appreciate it enough to pay for it in some way - then starts the hard work of getting people to watch, listen, look, etc. If you manage that without some stroke of serious luck it can be years to build a sufficient base that a high enough percentage of them buy something every release or whatever your output is. Like the quote says, a lot of people quit. A lot that don't quit don't make it either, and the lucky among them end up sort of art adjacent. You aren't the host, but you're a writer, you're not a rock star but after your band fell apart you ended up doing sound and lights at a venue you frequented, you're not Ira Glass but you're a producer or editor.
- jcpst 4y ago
  It's the first one. It's not simple, it's not white collar, and it doesn't pay crazy money. I wonder where you get that impression from. For examples, refer to most artists, musicians, poets, writers...
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  Most creatives have to have a day job to pay the bills, because their art pays almost nothing.
csours 4y ago
Also, you don't see the first draft, you see the final edit. For me, this means that it's OK to try stuff. For a long time I got mad at myself for taking half a day to change two lines of code. Of course to get to those two lines of code, I had to learn a lot and I had to try 10 different approaches. The units of work for software development are learning and trying things, not lines of code.
- vidro3 4y ago
  the Paris Review often prints draft versions of significant stories, poems, essays, etc. with editorial notes and marginalia on them. It really helps to see how these things weren't always in their final state.

usrnm 4y ago

> All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste Or because it is a relatively simple white collar job that pays crazy money. Which is more likely?

foundart 4y ago
My understanding is that creative work pays little unless your work is very popular. See for example the distribution of royalties for music streaming or for authors of books. Given this low likelihood of monetary gain it seems unlikely the money is a primary motivator.
libraryatnight 4y ago
Making a living off ones art isn't easy. It's hard work generally just polishing the skill to a point people might appreciate it enough to pay for it in some way - then starts the hard work of getting people to watch, listen, look, etc. If you manage that without some stroke of serious luck it can be years to build a sufficient base that a high enough percentage of them buy something every release or whatever your output is. Like the quote says, a lot of people quit. A lot that don't quit don't make it either, and the lucky among them end up sort of art adjacent. You aren't the host, but you're a writer, you're not a rock star but after your band fell apart you ended up doing sound and lights at a venue you frequented, you're not Ira Glass but you're a producer or editor.
jcpst 4y ago
It's the first one. It's not simple, it's not white collar, and it doesn't pay crazy money. I wonder where you get that impression from. For examples, refer to most artists, musicians, poets, writers...
amanaplanacanal 4y ago
Most creatives have to have a day job to pay the bills, because their art pays almost nothing.

csours 4y ago

Also, you don't see the first draft, you see the final edit. For me, this means that it's OK to try stuff. For a long time I got mad at myself for taking half a day to change two lines of code. Of course to get to those two lines of code, I had to learn a lot and I had to try 10 different approaches. The units of work for software development are learning and trying things, not lines of code.

vidro3 4y ago
the Paris Review often prints draft versions of significant stories, poems, essays, etc. with editorial notes and marginalia on them. It really helps to see how these things weren't always in their final state.