One of the hardest things to do in the creative process is to display unfinished work. There is an inherent fear of premature judgment that makes many artists seal all the doors until a project is finished. I am a member of this hermit mentality, but from my experience the periods of greatest creative growth in my life have happened when I granted unrestricted access to works in progress.
In writing circles these are often called workshops, and a similar practice required of every department at Pixar is referred to as dailies (because employees must share their work at the end of each day). The important point of this process, regardless of the field or frequency, is the community. While you may wish to also share work with trusted friends or family, they are not invited to this group. Instead group membership for the practice of workshops or dailies is dependent upon individual contribution. Everyone must submit work or the process breaks down.
The significance of this rule levels the playing field. The group often settles in after a few meetings when they realize that everyone present is capable of making a fool out of themselves and submitting crap. The key is to surround yourself with creative people who are naturally competitive, but are not directly competing with you. A little good-hearted competition helps to push the entire group to grow. People who compete directly with your own work however will often attack your submissions.
This type of peer review depends entirely on preventing this type of malicious criticism. There has to be a commitment to honesty and constructive comments. It is one thing to point out someone’s second verse weakens the storyline and another to ask why they would make such a stupid mistake. This seems simple, but it must be vehemently defended and cultivated. The safety of the group is what allows people to share and grow in their work, and without that feeling the group will quickly disappear.
This group is one of my favorite creative spaces, and something I love moderating. It pushes each member to step their game up to hold pace with the group, which then snowballs. The group gets better, so individuals have to rapidly improve again, which makes the group better, etc. For anyone serious about creative growth, one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself is to form up Voltron. Collect a circle of friends at your house once a week, or meet up with like-minded strangers at a coffee shop. In every successful group I have been a member of I have seen an intense growth in my own work. Learning to both give and receive criticism is one of the best things anyone can do for themselves.
Every field is full of cliche. If you are in advertising it’s likely you’re currently airing a commercial on how your clients product can help save money during the recession. If your blog targets the online marketing community you probably have an article with the title “7 viral marketing ideas”. And if you write songs, at some point in your life you rhymed “fire” with “desire”. Don’t feel guilty for committing these sins, Bruce Springsteen rhymes “fire” and “desire” all the time and he’s not hurting for fans. The point is, there is a danger of immunity if you are passing cliched messages to your audience.
When we hear cliche our attention drifts. Maybe we don’t change the channel or click the back button on the browser, but our commitment to what is in front of us is diminished. Over the past year we have become immune to fast food cracks about cheeseburger economics and sub sandwich bailouts. There is no longer a differentiator when Wendy’s is touting their dollar menu using the “we know money is tight” angle because Dominoes, Subway, and Burger King all have the same commercial.
The easy solution to this comes through discipline and attention. Whatever you spend your time on be aware of current trends and the historical arc of your field. That sounds simple, but I see trailers for the same movies over and over again each year. Someone has already written the “street kid makes good on dance career by meeting a troubled white girl” movie. I think Julia Stiles was in at least two of those. Please don’t write it again. In order to avoid this keep a cliche notebook, or text or clippings file. Anything that you can flip through on occasion to help point out cliches you may have overlooked.
This doesn’t mean a guitarist has to abandon his Hendrix licks or a songwriter can’t write about a breakup. Instead keep a list of things that numb your audience and then commit to always editing out those items. It is fine if your initial conception of an idea includes cliche. They are so ingrained in the public consciousness one is bound to sneak up on you now and again. But during the rewrite process you must commit to gutting every offender. If this leaves you with only one good verse, or no end to the second act of your play, then so be it. We’re not here because creating is easy. Your art and your audience will both grow in quality by forcing yourself to forge new paths.
Patagonia founder Yvon Choinard once wrote:
“I’ve always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession and degree of specialization that doesn’t appeal to me. Once I reach that 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different…”
While this applies to the approach many of us take in life, especially me, it is not an entirely accurate picture of the arc of Patagonia’s success. If you read the rest of Let My People Go Surfing you will find that in most cases Yvon was rather obsessive with his business. When he wasn’t he found someone on his team with the skills to follow through.
The first 80 percent holds little importance in any market or niche. At best it means you are average, and in more competitive markets a hobbyist. There is nothing wrong with this if the task at hand is the golf game you play for fun every other Saturday. But if your dream or business model is stalled at 80 percent capacity you are going to fail.
In anything where we strive for perfection, success, or victory the last 20 percent is all that matters. This is “The Dip” Seth Godin discusses. The path to mastery. 80 percenters are the reason every issue of Guitar Player magazine has a “Play Guitar in 1 Hour!” headline. The fundamentals of guitar are easily learned by anyone with a few weeks of passing interest to commit. The last 20 percent of guitar playing is the transition from the kid who picks up a “Play Guitar…” article, and the professional on the cover.
On any given day our time is extremely limited. With such a valuable resource in such short supply, why waste even a moment of the time you dedicate to your dreams on a task you have no intention of seeing through? Hobbies are fine for visits with your friends or decompression time, but in life, if you’re not willing to make the leap from newsstand shopper to magazine cover, you’re wasting your time.
