3 ms·

Focus, entertain, or both?

40 points by revorad 14y ago

orangethirty 14y ago
You work and showcase it. If people find it boring, then let them. Audiences come and go, but what you do stays put. Though I would change the focus a bit, and let the audience see a behind-scenes-look. Some will bail. New people will arrive. Most will not change or even care.
gbog 14y ago
One thing to remember is that most writers did write too much. Take George Simenon, he would be greater had he signed less pages. There is a current fad in showing everything, but it has not always been like this and many artist would burn their drafts with many good reasons. Sometime I feel many people would rather be toilet perfume everyone buys than French perfume.
tunesmith 14y ago
For musicians, maybe some sorta co-op label (run entirely by the musicians in question) would be in order. One person is visible/showing while the others are working - meanwhile, the fans follow the collective.
suprasanna 14y ago
The pro side to easier access to larger and larger audiences is the ability to find a niche audience (or have a niche audience find you via Twitter). This turns your 'boring' pursuit of mastery into something of interest, and maybe even guidance, to a large group of people. Not quite a direct answer, more of a thought sapling.
morganb180 14y ago
I'm going through this right now. Not so much the part that anyone _wants_ to hear what I have to say, because that number is in the low single digits, but more the part that I'm really focused on learning a new skill (Obj-C) and therefore don't have the time to do things that I normally do (e.g. blog, read new books, etc.) It's tough to give it up, because there is a desire to want do it all, but in reality there isn't time. For me, I've been wanting to learn to code for at least 15 years, so giving up most other things to make time for it at last makes sense. I'm glad I have, because I'm finally tackling something that's hung over my head for years. But I definitely get the itch to go back to what I was doing before.
javajosh 14y ago
Focus is clearly the most important. Entertainment and the status you get from it is only as useful as the amount of influence that status yields, and influence is only beneficial in proportion to your conviction and the quality of your ideas. Improving the quality of your ideas require an unwavering focus. Focus is the key.

40 points by revorad 14y ago

You work and showcase it. If people find it boring, then let them. Audiences come and go, but what you do stays put. Though I would change the focus a bit, and let the audience see a behind-scenes-look. Some will bail. New people will arrive. Most will not change or even care.

gbog 14y ago

One thing to remember is that most writers did write too much. Take George Simenon, he would be greater had he signed less pages. There is a current fad in showing everything, but it has not always been like this and many artist would burn their drafts with many good reasons. Sometime I feel many people would rather be toilet perfume everyone buys than French perfume.

tunesmith 14y ago

For musicians, maybe some sorta co-op label (run entirely by the musicians in question) would be in order. One person is visible/showing while the others are working - meanwhile, the fans follow the collective.

suprasanna 14y ago

The pro side to easier access to larger and larger audiences is the ability to find a niche audience (or have a niche audience find you via Twitter). This turns your 'boring' pursuit of mastery into something of interest, and maybe even guidance, to a large group of people. Not quite a direct answer, more of a thought sapling.

morganb180 14y ago

I'm going through this right now. Not so much the part that anyone _wants_ to hear what I have to say, because that number is in the low single digits, but more the part that I'm really focused on learning a new skill (Obj-C) and therefore don't have the time to do things that I normally do (e.g. blog, read new books, etc.) It's tough to give it up, because there is a desire to want do it all, but in reality there isn't time. For me, I've been wanting to learn to code for at least 15 years, so giving up most other things to make time for it at last makes sense. I'm glad I have, because I'm finally tackling something that's hung over my head for years. But I definitely get the itch to go back to what I was doing before.

javajosh 14y ago

Focus is clearly the most important. Entertainment and the status you get from it is only as useful as the amount of influence that status yields, and influence is only beneficial in proportion to your conviction and the quality of your ideas. Improving the quality of your ideas require an unwavering focus. Focus is the key.