Ira Glass on Storytelling 3

One thing I always like to go back to is Ira Glass's video on taste: ▶ this video In a nutshell, that feeling you get where you believe your projects look crap? It's because you're seeing the disconnect between what you can achieve now, and your taste that's informing what "great" is. It's a bit of a double edged sword in that while you'll likely not be truly happy with a project anytime soon, that disconnect means you'll also be able to constantly strive as you recognise supposed flaws in what you've created. In the end, all you can really do is just keep at it and over time, that gap will hopefully close as your skills allow you to create what your taste envisions. That's the dream anyway, haha.

I find it surprisingly difficult to lower my standards once I feel committed to an idea. I wish this article leaned a little more into ways to address that sort of dilemma. Don't get me wrong, I agree fully with the article. I put it into practice plenty well in many areas of my life. I've made great progress with my diet, self-care, and physical fitness routines by keeping my goals SMART. And yet, a few years ago, I got this idea in my head for a piece of software I wanted to create that is, if not too ambitious, then clearly asking all of me and then some. The opening paragraph of the article really resonated with me -- "The artwork that will finally make the invisible visible." And so, I've chipped away at the idea here and there, but I find myself continually put off by "the gap" - even though I know it's to be expected and is totally human. Part of me wishes I had never dared to dream so big and wishes I could let the idea go entirely. Another part of me is mad and ashamed for thinking like that about a personal dream. Anyway, don't know where I'm going with all this. Just felt like remarking on the article since it struck close to home. P.S. if you haven't seen the Ira Glass video, I'd take a look. It's pretty inspirational. Here's Part 3 which is what the article was referencing. ▶ this video

I am on the reverse journey. I went to art school, have been a designer for many years, and write software at a "not very good but I'm working on it" level. How do you learn to self-critique? Honesty, objectivity, and taste. Given your background, taste is the only one I'd worry about, but if you're shooting for photorealism, that's fine. You've got taste about what photos look like. That's easy. I'd bet that, after getting in the game, your goal won't be photorealism at the 5 year mark. But that's for later. Here's Ira Glass, of NPR, with a fairly famous set of remarks about overcoming the period of time when you know what good art looks like, and know that the art you are making is not good: ▶ this video Another anecdote I've heard that's a favorite of mine and describes the process of becoming talented very well: A pottery class is divided in two for the entire semester. One half of the class is told they have the whole 15 weeks to make one really, exceptionally great vase. The other half is told that their only goal is to produce as many vases as humanly possible, regardless of quality. At the end of the semester, the vases that were aiming for excellence pale in comparison to those created by the half that was shooting for volume. Through the course of creating many terrible vases, the students learned what makes a vase good, and how to do it in fast, repeatable ways. You don't make the mistake on vase 20 that you made on vase 1. These iterations compound and lead to significant quality gains. There are a lot of links to e.g. the lean startup methodology here. Fast iterations are better than long chunks of time spent chasing an ideal, because your ideal at the outset is almost certainly flawed in multiple ways that you won't realize until you've spent time trying to execute against it. Your ideas will fail in the world in ways you can't expect, so you want to put many ideas into the world and learn about the maximum number of failing cases. Make as much art as you can, for as long as you can, no matter how bad it is. As long as you have ideas about what needs to improve, you can improve.

You will never write something that everyone likes. And furthermore, writing a quality text is _hard_, as in, that is something that even a native speaker will have to practice several years. "There's a Gap that for the first couple years that you're making stuff what you're making isn't so good. it's not that great it's it's really not that great it's it's trying to be good it has ambition to good but it's not quite that good but your taste - the thing that got you into the game - your your taste is still killer and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of bad." ▶ this video

There is a simple test. Look at the result. Imagine someone else produced it. Would you think "This is very well done."? If not, it's "mediocre" at best. Reminds me of Ira Glass: “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.” source: ▶ this video