I think a lot about the processes of being creative. I am not really talking about the “where do the ideas come from” part, but rather the part that helps the ideas make it through the birth canal and get out into the world.
I am not great at any of this, by my own estimation. When I assess my creative value, I always judge myself very harshly. I am erratic. I am anxious. I blow deadlines - like, all the deadlines.
But there is also an objective reality alongside this subjective one. I have planned, shot, written, and produced eight television documentaries. I write a monthly magazine column. I have a couple book contracts at the moment. I produce a weekly radio show. I have been nominated for an Emmy. I have won a couple of awards.
So my hope is that, despite my obvious failings, I might have a thing or two to say now and then that would be of value to you. Perhaps you also struggle to get your ideas into the world. Perhaps you also are often your own biggest obstacle.
Perhaps, like me, you also like to have some words of encouragement, or to get a new look at the way you do things.
That’s my hope, too. I would like to connect, and to share ideas, and to encourage and be encouraged.
So this is a good place to begin. For the past twenty years, I have had three basic rules that structure my approach to any project I work on. I don’t think I invented them; I collected them. Perhaps it is most accurate to say, I curated them.
They are simple, and memorable, and I share them freely with you:
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
Whenever possible, learn in public.
Be too dumb to quit.
Each of these three points needs some explanation, of course. That’s what I’ll be doing with the first few installments of The Late World. From there, I’ll be offering regular visits into my creative process - drawing concrete examples from the projects I’m working on and abstract reflections from thirty years of thinking about how to be creative.
I think some of it will be helpful; I hope you will think so, too. If you do, please subscribe:
I would also be grateful if you tell your friends who you think might find some benefit from these sorts of ideas.
So we’re ready to begin. We’ll take a closer look at each of the three rules. But to get there, we have to start with the hardest, most important question we can ask: Is this thing I want to do worth doing?
Everything else flows from that.
I hope you’ll join the conversation. Welcome aboard.