the start of an idea

Here are some other techniques people use to access and maintain the zone:

• Introducing a long delay between when you do the work and when it is shown to the world. Annie Ernaux writes about this in A Simple Passion, a memoir about how she becomes obsessed in a banal way with a man who is having an affair with her—the thought that others will read th

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The gap between knowing what you want and going after it is where fear thrives. You don't need enough courage for the entire journey. You only need courage for the next step.

"In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts."

"The way to figure out what to work on is by working."

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"I think for most people who want to do great work, the right strategy is not to plan too much. At each stage do whatever seems most interesting and gives you the best options for the future. I call this approach 'staying upwind.' This is how most people who've done great work seem to have done... See more

“I always say ‘beginnings are easy, endings are hard’. Beginnings get easier and easier [because] there's so much technological assistance [and] so many ways of getting something started like rhythm machines and chord pattern makers.

There are a lot of ways of getting something pretty respectable going quite early on. To quote Picasso, ‘there's noth... See more