The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

But of all the usable directions, a sailboat goes slowest when it is going downwind. That’s because the sail acts as a parachute, meaning the boat can’t go any faster than the wind behind it. Dandelions spread their seeds at the whims of the wind, but they don’t make much of an impact. The sailboat doesn’t work that way. The sailboat is optimized t

We don’t ship the work because we’re creative. We’re creative because we ship the work.

We have to be able to say “it’s not for you” and mean it. The work exists to serve someone, to change someone, to make something better. In order to be popular, to reach the masses, we often have to sacrifice the very change we sought to make. Change someone. And, as Hugh MacLeod said, “Ignore everyone.”

The trap is this: only after we do the difficult work does it become our calling. Only after we trust the process does it become our passion. “Do what you love” is for amateurs. “Love what you do” is the mantra for professionals.

84. Bicycle Problems I’m having trouble learning to ride a bike. How long have you practiced? About fifteen minutes. It might take a lot longer than that. It might take months. I want to learn to ride a bike, but I don’t want to fall, even once. Not even once? I need to be able to ride a bike blindfolded. Have you ever seen anyone do that? No, but that

Who are you trying to change? What change are you trying to make? How will you know if it worked?

Go too far to please the audience and you become a hack. Lose your point of view, lose your reason for doing the work, become a hack. Focus only on the results, become a hack. On the other hand, if you ignore what you see and simply create for yourself, you’ve walked away from empathy. If there is no change, there is no art. The professional unders

Positive people are more likely to enjoy the practice. They’re not wasting any time experiencing failure in advance.

Choose to make work that matters a great deal to someone. Develop an understanding of genre, work to see your audience’s dreams and hopes, and go as far out on the edge as they’re willing to follow. Choose to be peculiar.

The practice is not the means to the output, the practice is the output, because the practice is all we can control.