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I think the biggest obstacle for aspiring artists is not scheduling, energy, location, etc., but the perfectionist mindset. In my experience, it's easy to becom

I think the biggest obstacle for aspiring artists is not scheduling, energy, location, etc., but the perfectionist mindset. In my experience, it's easy to become paralyzed by trying to create the final product from the start. It's this mindset that leads people to start thinking things like: "If only I had a cabin in the woods somewhere with a nice espresso machine, I could really do this right." I once had to write a first draft of a full-length screenplay (160+ pages) for a screenwriting class I took for fun. Our professor made it clear that we shouldn't worry about our scripts sucking because he was 100% sure that they would. Once you accept that your art will suck in its early drafts/stages, you can focus on cooking out ideas/material to start improving upon. This will be so easy that you will want pen and paper, recording equipment, camera, etc. with you all the time.

DocSavage 17y ago
I totally agree. Write and let yourself fail. Many writers will talk about "vomiting up" material before going through a process of revision. You have to get words down on paper, and frequently, that process will be blocked by being too critical of the words you are typing. Don't be too critical. This may go against our tendencies as programmers to write worthy code from the start, especially from the TDD perspective. When you are writing creatively, you don't have to generate fully functional (i.e., beautiful) prose right away through micro-iterations. (Write a line, look at it, does it work, refine the line, does it work, look at the paragraph, etc -- that's not the way many pro writers work.) Spew it out, then refine. After I wrote the above paragraph, I recalled the recording of pg working on an essay (http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences) and how different it would probably look if it were Stephen stream-of-consciousness King. There's a lot of backtracking as pg hones his words, sentence by sentence. It would be really interesting to see how authors of different backgrounds approach the creative writing process, and whether target work length (essay vs novel) and style (argument vs entertainment) dictates your approach.
jamesbritt 17y ago
"I think the biggest obstacle for aspiring artists is not scheduling, energy, location, etc., but the perfectionist mindset. In my experience, it's easy to become paralyzed by trying to create the final product from the start." Interesting observations on the road blocks to creating in the book, The War of Art. http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/0446691437 http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...
jseliger 17y ago
The perfectionist mindset isn't just an obstacle for artists -- it also can be for programmers, engineers, and others. I actually wrote a post about it called "The Perils of Perfectionism" (see http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-perfectionism/ http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-perfectioni... ), which I just submitted to HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=778408 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=778408 . The basic problem is that almost any creative process is iterative and recursive. When you think it has to be perfect the first time through, it by definition can't be. You've set yourself up in a loop with no exit conditions. Get to the rest of the program.
- wallflower 17y ago
  The best essay on writing I've ever read (by a NYT bestselling author) "Some Thoughts on Writing" http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm "Magazines, editors, agents - they all employ young people making $22,000 a year whose job is to read lots of manuscripts and send back letters telling you that you aren't good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. It's their job. Don't pre-reject yourself." -Elizabeth Gilbert
xsmasher 17y ago
There's a notion that when you start creating, your "taste exceeds your craft"* - that is, you have high standards and can't create anything up to those standards. You think everything you do sucks. You have to motor through it though, or you never get any better. * could not find the exact quote - something about taste vs. craft or art.
- _pius 17y ago
  Ira Glass talks about this at length here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE I routinely tell friends that this is one of the most important videos I've ever watched.

DocSavage 17y ago

I totally agree. Write and let yourself fail. Many writers will talk about "vomiting up" material before going through a process of revision. You have to get words down on paper, and frequently, that process will be blocked by being too critical of the words you are typing. Don't be too critical. This may go against our tendencies as programmers to write worthy code from the start, especially from the TDD perspective. When you are writing creatively, you don't have to generate fully functional (i.e., beautiful) prose right away through micro-iterations. (Write a line, look at it, does it work, refine the line, does it work, look at the paragraph, etc -- that's not the way many pro writers work.) Spew it out, then refine. After I wrote the above paragraph, I recalled the recording of pg working on an essay (http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences) and how different it would probably look if it were Stephen stream-of-consciousness King. There's a lot of backtracking as pg hones his words, sentence by sentence. It would be really interesting to see how authors of different backgrounds approach the creative writing process, and whether target work length (essay vs novel) and style (argument vs entertainment) dictates your approach.

jamesbritt 17y ago

"I think the biggest obstacle for aspiring artists is not scheduling, energy, location, etc., but the perfectionist mindset. In my experience, it's easy to become paralyzed by trying to create the final product from the start." Interesting observations on the road blocks to creating in the book, The War of Art. http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/0446691437 http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

jseliger 17y ago

The perfectionist mindset isn't just an obstacle for artists -- it also can be for programmers, engineers, and others. I actually wrote a post about it called "The Perils of Perfectionism" (see http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-perfectionism/ http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-perfectioni... ), which I just submitted to HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=778408 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=778408 . The basic problem is that almost any creative process is iterative and recursive. When you think it has to be perfect the first time through, it by definition can't be. You've set yourself up in a loop with no exit conditions. Get to the rest of the program.

wallflower 17y ago
The best essay on writing I've ever read (by a NYT bestselling author) "Some Thoughts on Writing" http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm "Magazines, editors, agents - they all employ young people making $22,000 a year whose job is to read lots of manuscripts and send back letters telling you that you aren't good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. It's their job. Don't pre-reject yourself." -Elizabeth Gilbert

xsmasher 17y ago

There's a notion that when you start creating, your "taste exceeds your craft"* - that is, you have high standards and can't create anything up to those standards. You think everything you do sucks. You have to motor through it though, or you never get any better. * could not find the exact quote - something about taste vs. craft or art.

_pius 17y ago
Ira Glass talks about this at length here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE I routinely tell friends that this is one of the most important videos I've ever watched.