DON'T WORRY ABOUT FAILURE;
WORRY ABOUT STALLING.
YOUR ART GETS BETTER AS YOU GO.
JUST DON'T EVER USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO SETTLE.
(Jeff Goins)
I can stall with the best of them. Wait, wait, wait - while the stars align, while I clean the house, while I make up the grocery list, while I put the laundry on. Let me just straighten my office, organize my files, make sure I have the right notebooks and colored index cards and pens. I just have to make sure the idea and the characters and the plot are all clear and sharp and perfect before I write it all down.
It's often the stalling that stifles the art.
This week, let's not wait. Write down that great line of dialogue - even if it's on a dirty napkin. Take that photo - even if the light isn't perfect. Sketch out the image in your head - even if you can't really draw. Keep going, keep pushing, keep creating. Don't. Wait.
"YOUR ART GETS BETTER AS YOU GO" -- I sure hope so. Dirty napkins, look out!
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, Milo, I hope so, too! :)
ReplyDeleteFor me, it's not so much dirty napkins as post-its and scraps of paper. I jot down notes in the blank spaces on those subscription cards that fall out of magazines.
I love this advice! I feel like you are talking right to me. I'm a master staller :)
ReplyDeleteHa! Thanks for reading, Angela. :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes though I feel like the stalling happens just before a breakthrough...