There is a large gap between the kind of work you make and the kind of work you know you WANT to make. My favorite illustration of the valley between the two is from Ira Glass as illustrated by Daniel Sax. Seven years later and the creativity and composition still hold up beautifully.
Really what we’re talking about is VOLUME. It’s the only difference between you and the person who does what you want to do better.
This practice is one of the things I appreciated most about my early days of journalism. Straight out of college, going out every day with a photojournalist and covering a new story, a new topic, in a new part of town with totally new people was a fantastic way to get over myself.
Journalism gave me permission to:
- Be an beginner
- In front of strangers
- Learn something new
- Understand it
- Teach it to someone else
Do this every day for a couple of years, and you’re now a pro at becoming an expert on something new every day in less than eight hours.
That’s the journalistic process in a very crude nutshell. Once you are a veteran, you become an expert in a certain area–sometimes called a “beat”–because of the number of times you’ve reported that particular issue. VOLUME.
Occupation doesn’t matter
Every job has this. Teachers, nurses, bankers, sanitation workers, restaurant servers. Though it’s a lot easier to send a steak back to an inexperienced line cook than it is to encourage a nurse drawing blood for the third or fourth time on their first day.
In each example, the novice starts by doing something unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Eventually, the cook can lift a piece of meat and know what it’s internal temperature is. The nurse can tell you the funniest story you’ve ever heard, distracting you so well you don’t even feel the needle penetrating your skin.
creativity leaves nowhere to hide
Just because it’s “art” doesn’t mean the process isn’t the same. Practice your craft and try to make it as painless as possible for the person on the other end.