On Art

Category

Flawed genius

I’m always on the lookout for flawed genius. Rather than solid perfection, I prefer the crazy, quirky, and niche every time. I stole this term from Paul Barnett of Mythic Entertainment, who was discussing his (late) game Warhammer Online, and its rival World of Warcraft: “I believe WoW is a work of flawed genius. When you dismantle [these works] you can never be sure whether you get genius or flaw.” I once evoked this in the finale post of Sakurasou na Pet no Kanojo, and though my prose is awfully unpolished,...

Steal like an artist

Among certain circles, I think there’s too much focus on the unique. It’s nearly a fetish. “I’ve seen it all before” or “This is just like ______” are not the dirty words some imagine them to be. They’re the result of a creative truth you may not be aware of. Artists steal. Artists steal all the time. Any artist who tells you she doesn’t is lying. There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new combinations of what’s been seen before. And often, what you think is original...

Fast, easy, guaranteed

“…pick none. That’s the work that’s worth doing.” –Seth Godin What this tells me is that I’m doing work that’s worth doing right now. Writing this book has been neither fast, nor easy, nor is it guaranteed to succeed. What else this tells me is that as soon as my writing is any of those things, I need to reach further. Especially easy. If it gets too easy, I’m not pushing myself hard enough to tell even better stories than I...

Anchor

One of my friends likes to joke about how slowly I’m writing my first book. Fair enough. I myself thought it would be out by now, and I was clearly wrong. I know I’ll be able to go more quickly next time, despite evidence to the contrary. That’s because I know what’s been holding me up. It’s a combination of self-sabotaging personal habits, lack of experience, and fear. These elements combine to make some days a productivity void, where I’m only able...

The gap

If I were to sum up my original editor’s opinion of my book, it would be this: Your ideas are good, but your execution isn’t there yet. Trust me, I already knew. Or at least the second part. The other day I came across a speech by Ira Glass. It’s called The Gap. If you’re at all interested in doing creative work, or important work of any kind, go watch it. It’s two minutes long. It’s worth it. I know my taste is good....

Neil Gaiman’s Eight Rules of Writing

I love reading what great authors have to say about the craft. It’s often revelatory, and Neil Gaiman is one of my favorites. So here they are – Neil Gaiman’s Eight Rules of Writing: Write Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down. Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it. Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who...

Personifying your muse

Now that I’ve just finished telling you that your muse is a lie, let’s talk about my muse, shall we? No, I’m not backtracking on what I said before. Muses do not exist, and it’s vital to constantly remember that in order to avoid surrendering responsibility for your productivity. It is useful to define the environment in which you are best able to be creative though, and we humans are much better at responding to stories than lists of facts. So I’ll describe my “muse”...

Your muse is a lie

I hear many creative types talk about their muse. They speak as if their creativity comes from somewhere outside of them, from a fickle creature they must tempt and woo before they can sit down and do their art. Bullshit. Your muse is a lie. There’s no such thing. The muse isn’t even a useful lie. Believing your creativity comes from somewhere else allows you to blame your struggles on this outside force, when the truth of the matter is much...

Orderly, original

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” -Gustav Flaubert I try to maintain the exact same routine every day. Get enough sleep, eat breakfast, exercise, take a shower, make some tea, and then write. That’s not always possible due to my pesky 9-5, but I have a routine for those days as well. I try to do the same things every single day, so I don’t have to spend...

Unveil an actuality

I recently came across the one question interview that Film Crit Hulk did with comedian Patton Oswalt. Since I read it, Patton’s answer has been taking up an inordinate amount of mental real estate, and I think I’m only now coming to understand how brilliant it is. You can click on the link above for the entire thing – and you should, because it’s very short – but here’s the even shorter synopsis: Film Crit Hulk asked Patton about whether stand-up...