Creativity, According to Rick Rubin

Absolutely. Especially in success. Once you’ve been successful, there’s a lot of pressure to continue that, whereas usually when you were doing the thing that made you successful in the first place, nobody was looking and nobody cared. Then when you get successful, there’s all this pressure. It’s like, “Oh, now I’m making something and everybody’s

... See more

What do people get wrong about creativity? What’s a misconception?

That it’s just fun work. That it’s all fun and that it’s all a party. But it’s not that at all. It’s a real life of dedication. If you do it seriously, it’s a very dedicated life, and it’s unlike other jobs. There are some jobs where you’re done with your day’s work, and then you g

... See more

Sometimes an artist comes to me and they’re like, “I’ve made all these things and I’ve been really successful, but I’m lost. I don’t know what to do next.” And then it’s, like, “Let’s figure it out together. Tell me, what do you like? What do you feel? When was the last time you were really excited by it? What was the first time you were really exc

... See more

I may have an idea of a thing I want to make. And then I start making it, and I realize there’s some other thing that it’s trying to be. This other thing that it’s trying to be is actually better than the thing that I wanted to make. Now, if I’m tightly set on the idea of, “I’m the creator, and I’m making this thing,” I’ll miss this bigger opportun

... See more

Let’s say we create a sketch. It’s really exciting, and then we think, “OK, this is going to make a great oil painting.” And now we spend months working on the painting. Many people find it hard, after putting months into a painting, to look back and say, “You know what? That first five-minute sketch is actually better than the painting. That’s the

... See more