Chuck was wise
A lifetime ago, when I was an animator and studying Chuck Jones, I found this quote from him.
The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out.
It's simple, but maybe not easy. How do you dig deep to create quality work, and also be lighthearted. To be great at what you do, but open to the fact that you are just a person. With flaws and some rough edges, perhaps.
Some thoughts:
- Keep a regular creative cadence, as a single thing you make is less important than the repeatable structure you build. Some people phrase this as “show up every day”. Creative work is still work.
- As fast as you can, get comfortable with feedback on your work (email me if you have feedback on this post). Some of it will be good and actionable. Some of it won't be. Some of it will be misdirected and attack you and not the work. That stuff sucks. Critique the creation, not the creator when giving feedback.
- Do both of these in public. Write about it, tweet about what you're doing and how you're doing it. Most of us are rooting for you and want you to succeed. What may be a boring routine, and perhaps a grind for you sometimes is straight up magic to others.