Every once in a while, I like to revisit this quote by Ira Glass, an American radio and TV producer.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. 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. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.
Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
―Ira Glass
Gavin Aung Than, of Zen Pencils also made a great comic of it, see the whole thing here.
This video, with Glass's speech as the voiceover is beautifully made too.
So dear reader, every time you find yourself despairing that your work being not good enough, remind yourself that you have great taste, and there is just a little gap between your ability and ambition. And the way to bridge that gap, is to simply put in that work. Just keep chipping away at your block of stone, and your David will emerge.