A couple months ago, a filmmaker made a video based on a talk from Ira Glass, who hosts the NPR radio show This American Life. It was his advice for people who are frustrated with their work. He says that when people start out in a creative field, there’s a gap between taste and ability. Glass claims that a lot of people quit at this phase. But those who make interesting creative work spend years recognizing the gap, being disappointed with their work, and trying to lessen the gap.
His main suggestions are to do a lot of work (a flavor of the contentious 10,000 hours to expertise rule), but he also talks about setting deadlines to keep working and remain focused. It’s a slightly different angle from which too look at some of the ideas from this class, including focusing and continuing to refine and tweak where others give up or accept things as good enough.
Video below.