Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Ira Glass • Ira Glass
In 1979, struggling to write a script for a weeklong series on “Going to School,” he wrote in a note to himself: “Am I kidding myself that I’m able to write a script again? Am I really just whistling Dixie? I wonder. Why don’t I trust myself? Really that’s what it’s all about . . . that and not wanting to go through the agony of creation. AFTER ALL
... See moreMaxwell King • The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
There Was Some Essential “Me-Ness” In It
For years, the writer George Saunders tried to write technically perfect stories. “I wrote story after story,” Saunders writes in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, “and everything I wrote was minimal and strict and efficient and lifeless and humor-free, even though, in real life, I reflexively turned to humor at
... See moreDaniel McGinn • Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian, Innovator, Micromanager
You have to understand a field well before you develop a good nose for what needs fixing. You have to do your homework. But as you become expert in a field, you'll start to hear little voices saying, What a hack! There must be a better way. Don't ignore those voices. Cultivate them. The recipe for great work is: very exacting taste, plus the
... See morepaulgraham.com • Taste for Makers
Celine Nguyen • no one told me about proust - by Celine Nguyen
The creators and innovators whom I meet, if they do struggle with criticism and perfectionism, also understand the importance of allowing their product to be judged by the marketplace, and the opportunity that users’ feedback presents to make the product better as a result. They know that they need an abundance of feedback to dial in their product.
... See moreGuy Raz • How I Built This
We like to think of ourselves as consistent, rational beings, possessing certain attributes and not others. Yet a person who is completely consistent, who possesses no contradictions, comes across as less real. Wooden. Plastic. The most truthful and irrational aspects of ourselves are often hidden, and our access to them lies through the creation
... See moreRick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Adam Moss: I was hoping we could discuss the relationship of anxiety to drive, because I think it’s an important note for the book, and people often, at least implicitly, bring it up. And you’re candid and articulate enough to— Ira Glass: Nice flattery! As a fellow interviewer, I’m respecting the flattery. All right. I need a harsh deadline to get
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