Ira Glass on... patience.

Ran across this great little commentary by Ira Glass... though intended for writers/filmmakers (I think), it carries much truth for in the photo game.

If you don't know who Ira Glass is, you must go here immediately - http://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast

What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

You should also check out the television series of This American Life HERE.

Video by David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Comments

[Ben]

thanks for sharing this. I needed it

[Islandia Lane]

This is so great; I also needed this. Thank you for sharing! He's literally right on the money and it does relate to almost any creative venture.

[Emily Rice]

I love this. I'm in that spot. Working on climbing on out.