CONFIDENCE-
Write Fast, Revise Slow.
Everyone makes mistakes but doers "do" first and fix errors later.
Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
KEY POINTS-
Everyone wants to be a critic, but sometimes the artist just needs a thumbs-up.
The maker needs to make something before they can ship anything. Focus on the doing first, and fix it later.
If rules are made to be broken, why do creatives fear breaking them? Dare to be different.
Like many creatives, I wear many hats.
Sure, I’m a wife, mother, daughter, and sister, but I’m also a chef, handyman, laundress, and housekeeper (although I’m not very good at the latter).
But what I’m thinking about here are my interests, my hobbies, and my jobs.
For 23 years, I've been a graphic designer, grant writer, website content creator, photographer, and cheerleader for The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, a regional nonprofit dedicated to live music performances.
At first, my "work" was voluntary and unpaid.
As the organization grew and gained a firmer financial foundation, I became the .5 of the official 1.5 full-time employees.
One of my regular jobs is writing e-newsletters to promote upcoming concerts and prompt members to donate.
Just last night, I sent this headline—
“This is what you’ll HERE!”
Your true friends are the ones who tell you when you have spinach in your teeth or a bugger in your nose. Well, one of my good friends at the symphony sent me an email apprising me of my error. The surprising thing is that she was the one and only one to point out my mistake. There are close to 2,000 people on our email list.
But this brings me to an important point.
Even though I used the wrong word, and even though most (all?) of those who read the line also understood the line, no one else emailed me.
This surprised me because many on our list pride themselves on their English Language Usage skills.
(I wonder if I misused capitalization and/or title case in the above sentence. Frankly, I don’t care.)
What do you do when your fear of critics' comments for your infinitesimal foibles prevents you from doing what you love?
Try this:
Ignore the critics and know that no one is perfect.
When people read my book Do Your ART! 10 Simple Steps to Enhance Creativity and Elevate Mood, many comment on my misspelling of the word "ART."
I realize that the repeated misspelling offends some readers. Rules are rules, after all.
From a young age, we are taught to follow the rules.
After all, the rules of the road prevent accidents, gridlock, and road rage… well, they might actually prompt the latter.
But rules are meant to be broken, aren’t they?
Picasso represents the benefits of ignoring or bending particular established rules composition. Dickinson, too, challenged traditional poetic forms.
I explain that when I started writing my book and the phrase Do Your ART!, I accidentally mistyped and capitalized the second letter of the word.
The funny thing is that I kept making this same mistake.
You know those errors you always make but keep messing up even though you're prepared for the slip-ups?
Instead of the constant battle, I decided to embrace the mistake.
Every artist makes mistakes
The seamstress accidentally snips the fabric when trimming threads.
The gardener accidentally pulls the crop when weeding the weeds.
The baker accidentally whips the cream too long, causing the whipped cream to separate.
The musician cracks a note.
The carpenter chips aboard.
The painter overdoes the scene.
The rainbow turns from ROYGBIV into an arc of shades of brown.
The writer writes too long, too short, too detailed, and not detailed enough.
In teaching, it is crucial to help my students gain confidence. My students often come to my college writing classes with damaged self-confidence because their teachers, past and present, focus on grammar, spelling, and writing mechanics. Those things are critical, but content and organization need cultivation first.
I have an assignment that prompts my students to write an extended first essay. This past semester, the page length ranged from seven pages to 109.
In self-editing and revising, I use a very analytical approach. For example, I have done extensive reverse outlines of novels producing a colorful spreadsheet of scenes, settings, and character traits.
Write fast, revise slowly
If you want to not appear like an inscribing idiot, you could attempt careful revision tactics.
In revising Do Your ART!, I also pulled apart the text. In many ways, the process felt more like an autopsy than a revision as I laid out the text so that I could see how the words functioned on their own.
I firmly believe in writing fast and revising slowly. I tell my students that you must start with a chunk of diamond to get a beautifully faceted diamond. Let the book present itself to you. See what the story is and what it wants to be. Then, you can shape the words, and the paragraphs, into an independent, autonomous thing that must live without the author making excuses for its shortcomings, mistakes, and errors.
I am obsessed with the process of writing
Writing, rewriting, revising, and starting completely over is fun. That is why working toward a performance focuses on every step in writing and publishing. Many art forms suffer a similar "it’s never really finished" philosophy.
But performance serves as a finish line. Like final exams for my students, the end is the end, until next time.
Regardless of the hat you're wearing today, know you're doing it—you're making your "ART"
When researching and learning more about creativity, I posited, 'What is good?'
I wanted to be good.
I wanted to be great.
I wanted to know how to tell the difference between good and bad so that I could be great.
The wonderful truth about humans and their need for art is that each of us has different likes and preferences.
You like jazz. I prefer new age.
You prefer the mountains. I like the ocean.
You like realism. I prefer impressionism.
You prefer dark walnut stain. I like honey oak.
You like Mexican. I prefer Thai.
You prefer musicals. I like comedy.
You like tight-fitting pants. I prefer baggy.
Learn to love what you do.
Be your biggest fan.
Know and believe you're doing ART! because you are an artist/creative/maker.
CONFIDENCE-
Write Fast, Revise Slow.
Everyone makes mistakes but doers "do" first and fix errors later.
Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
KEY POINTS-
Everyone wants to be a critic, but sometimes the artist just needs a thumbs-up.
The maker needs to make something before they can ship anything. Focus on the doing first, and fix it later.
If rules are made to be broken, why do creatives fear breaking them? Dare to be different.
Like many creatives, I wear many hats.
Sure, I’m a wife, mother, daughter, and sister, but I’m also a chef, handyman, laundress, and housekeeper (although I’m not very good at the latter).
But what I’m thinking about here are my interests, my hobbies, and my jobs.
For 23 years, I've been a graphic designer, grant writer, website content creator, photographer, and cheerleader for The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, a regional nonprofit dedicated to live music performances.
At first, my "work" was voluntary and unpaid.
As the organization grew and gained a firmer financial foundation, I became the .5 of the official 1.5 full-time employees.
One of my regular jobs is writing e-newsletters to promote upcoming concerts and prompt members to donate.
Just last night, I sent this headline—
“This is what you’ll HERE!”
Your true friends are the ones who tell you when you have spinach in your teeth or a bugger in your nose. Well, one of my good friends at the symphony sent me an email apprising me of my error. The surprising thing is that she was the one and only one to point out my mistake. There are close to 2,000 people on our email list.
But this brings me to an important point.
Even though I used the wrong word, and even though most (all?) of those who read the line also understood the line, no one else emailed me.
This surprised me because many on our list pride themselves on their English Language Usage skills.
(I wonder if I misused capitalization and/or title case in the above sentence. Frankly, I don’t care.)
What do you do when your fear of critics' comments for your infinitesimal foibles prevents you from doing what you love?
Try this:
Ignore the critics and know that no one is perfect.
When people read my book Do Your ART! 10 Simple Steps to Enhance Creativity and Elevate Mood, many comment on my misspelling of the word "ART."
I realize that the repeated misspelling offends some readers. Rules are rules, after all.
From a young age, we are taught to follow the rules.
After all, the rules of the road prevent accidents, gridlock, and road rage… well, they might actually prompt the latter.
But rules are meant to be broken, aren’t they?
Picasso represents the benefits of ignoring or bending particular established rules composition. Dickinson, too, challenged traditional poetic forms.
I explain that when I started writing my book and the phrase Do Your ART!, I accidentally mistyped and capitalized the second letter of the word.
The funny thing is that I kept making this same mistake.
You know those errors you always make but keep messing up even though you're prepared for the slip-ups?
Instead of the constant battle, I decided to embrace the mistake.
Every artist makes mistakes
The seamstress accidentally snips the fabric when trimming threads.
The gardener accidentally pulls the crop when weeding the weeds.
The baker accidentally whips the cream too long, causing the whipped cream to separate.
The musician cracks a note.
The carpenter chips aboard.
The painter overdoes the scene.
The rainbow turns from ROYGBIV into an arc of shades of brown.
The writer writes too long, too short, too detailed, and not detailed enough.
In teaching, it is crucial to help my students gain confidence. My students often come to my college writing classes with damaged self-confidence because their teachers, past and present, focus on grammar, spelling, and writing mechanics. Those things are critical, but content and organization need cultivation first.
I have an assignment that prompts my students to write an extended first essay. This past semester, the page length ranged from seven pages to 109.
In self-editing and revising, I use a very analytical approach. For example, I have done extensive reverse outlines of novels producing a colorful spreadsheet of scenes, settings, and character traits.
Write fast, revise slowly
If you want to not appear like an inscribing idiot, you could attempt careful revision tactics.
In revising Do Your ART!, I also pulled apart the text. In many ways, the process felt more like an autopsy than a revision as I laid out the text so that I could see how the words functioned on their own.
I firmly believe in writing fast and revising slowly. I tell my students that you must start with a chunk of diamond to get a beautifully faceted diamond. Let the book present itself to you. See what the story is and what it wants to be. Then, you can shape the words, and the paragraphs, into an independent, autonomous thing that must live without the author making excuses for its shortcomings, mistakes, and errors.
I am obsessed with the process of writing
Writing, rewriting, revising, and starting completely over is fun. That is why working toward a performance focuses on every step in writing and publishing. Many art forms suffer a similar "it’s never really finished" philosophy.
But performance serves as a finish line. Like final exams for my students, the end is the end, until next time.
Regardless of the hat you're wearing today, know you're doing it—you're making your "ART"
When researching and learning more about creativity, I posited, 'What is good?'
I wanted to be good.
I wanted to be great.
I wanted to know how to tell the difference between good and bad so that I could be great.
The wonderful truth about humans and their need for art is that each of us has different likes and preferences.
You like jazz. I prefer new age.
You prefer the mountains. I like the ocean.
You like realism. I prefer impressionism.
You prefer dark walnut stain. I like honey oak.
You like Mexican. I prefer Thai.
You prefer musicals. I like comedy.
You like tight-fitting pants. I prefer baggy.
Learn to love what you do.
Be your biggest fan.
Know and believe you're doing ART! because you are an artist/creative/maker.
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