A couple YouTubers I follow have posted thoughtful videos on quantity and quality, and how they relate to each other. I figured I’d collect both videos here and give some thoughts on them.
This video by my friend, Ben Burnes, is very thoughtful and considers many ways that producing more work leads to greater quality. He gives a couple examples of how this works, too.
Be sure to check out more videos in his Creative Exploration series, as well — he gives a lot of solid advice and thoughts on how to be more effective at creating.
Liron gives some interesting thoughts on quality vs quantity, as well. He makes similar points as Ben, but his perspective on it is valuable as well.
It’s worth checking out Liron’s other videos, too. He focuses mostly on watercolor painting and materials, but some of his advice can be applied to other media, as well.
Once I get some fundamental habits going (such as getting regular exercise via walking and stretching, and developing an earlier sleep schedule), I’m planning on becoming more nimble in this way, too. I’d like to be more relaxed with my work and focus more on the act of creating than trying to achieve perfection. Even if I produce “dumb” art, it’ll still be valuable as a tool to learn from.
I have a bad habit of looking at a finished piece or story and trying to learn from all the mistakes at once. They say “don’t bite off more than you can chew”, and I do this way too often. It’s so easy to choke on a monumental task and achieve nothing due to high expectations and anxiety. Smaller, incremental steps are the way to go.
I’ll give an example: I’ve been working on a short story on and off for the past four years. It’s been a useful way to develop my idea and as a tool for learning, but I keep obsessively rewriting the thing completely when I get feedback from my editor, or notice something on my own.
Now, it’s very normal for writers to go through a cycle of writing and rewriting the same story for a several years or more. The issue I’m having seems to be with the way I write (or don’t write, as it were). I get caught up planning everything out, which is important, but it’s still necessary to do the thing. Like with art: You don’t get better by not drawing. I won’t get better by not writing.
Anyway, that’s where I’m at. Once I’m through this period of feeling stuck, and have developed some good strategies about it, I’ll make a post on that.
Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
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