“Real Artists Ship”– Steve Jobs
This quote from Steve Jobs refers to the idea that a true artist release their work without putting it through the ringer of over-thinking. They let it go and let it be, allowing it to go into the world and be vulnerable to criticism. Judged for releasing Apple products too early, this is key to maintaining creative output – releasing work.
“The real gap is between doing nothing and doing something.” Austin Kleon
As creatives, it’s ideally the goal for us to release a lot of work. What we contribute dictates how we are compensated, whether it be monetarily or in social currency, such as peer respect or connections. However, I think it’s often the fear of creatives to worry about the ratio of the amount of work that we are releasing and its quality. I personally am torn on this, as I’m a fan of both the more prolific artists, as well as some of the ones that create anticipation for their releases. Overall though, I think that as makers, we should take advantage of the ability to dictate our own output and look at it as a form of generosity to share our work as often as possible. This allows us to show our work before we begin to over edit and doubt it, eventually revealing a watered down product. If you’re working a lot, it generally lends to better work. In an interview on the (Open Mike Eagle Podcast), Hellfyre Club artist Milo states that when he looks at the artists that he’s a fan of, they all generally release a lot of work.
Also, with the short attention spans of people due to the over consumption of information, it benefits us to stay in their minds (by staying on their social media timelines).
In his article, Seth Godin refers to some one of the things that holds us back from this is the Resistance, a term coined by Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art. The Resistance is everything that we tell ourselves that can keep us from doing the work. This can be going to eat, watching TV, reading a book, etc. Also, as Godin says, we can face the resistance by working in a group. Someone is always looking to offer the Devil’s Advocate view. That’s why it’s important to be able to ship before some of these come in to play.
I know that I myself face the Resistance right after I begin a project. I’m good at the planning level. I’m full of ideas when it’s time to take on a project. I brainstorm, research and collect source material. However, I notice that I often start making excuses once it comes time to execute. (I’ve had the outline for this post in my Evernote for 2 weeks.) My Resistance comes in the form of reading design-related material and listening to podcasts. Though these media are generally beneficial, they become a quiet poison, because I generally feel like I’m doing something productive, but am actually putting off what I should be doing. As Pressfield states, “the thing that you are putting off is usually the exact task that you should be doing. Inevitably, every time I actually ship (or print or publish or post), it feels like a weight has been lifted and I can move to the next project.
The approach that I’ve begun to implement (starting yesterday) to cut through some of the resistance is to focus heavily on the process. This comes as a benefit in both the long and short terms. For the immediate, I like to begin the project by first looking at the project as a whole and break it down into small steps. This forces me to only focus on the task at hand, giving greater attention to a small step. In addition, documenting and sharing the steps completed allows you to share the pieces of your work as you’re doing them, which both shows your audience that you’re working and also gives them an inside look at your work. Sometimes showing how you’re working gives a better understanding of the direction that you move in and can generate a greater appreciation.
As Seth Godin says in the article linked below:
Ship often. Ship lousy stuff, but ship. Ship constantly.
