Creation is not art. Art is in editing.
Creation is not art. Art is in editing.
Don’t we all create as children? With pencils and paint and whatever we can get our hands on while the grownups aren’t looking? We all have that creative streak at the beginning. But then society tames it down, way down, and you have to fight hard if you want to keep it.
Art is editing. Because it’s not about what you come up with. It’s about what you’ll choose to show. Ernest used to say, “the first draft of anything is shit”.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s part of the deal. The sooner you make your peace with it, the better. That’s why you need to be able to create freely, without judgment. Judgment is for later. For the editing part.
That’s when you pick what’s great and what isn’t. What you’ll show and what you’ll hide. We never said it was about sharing it all.
Truth is, most of what you’ll come up with won’t be worth pursuing. And that’s normal. Don’t think you suck if you need to write eight songs to come up with one worth releasing.
The more you do it, the better you get. And the higher the quality of your output. But your expectations will go up as well. You’ll pass on some songs that a few years back you’d have been so proud to show the world. Now they’re not worth your time.
That’s how it goes. It’s called progress.
And keep in mind that it ain’t linear, either. In some periods you’ll come up with a much higher ratio of good vs bad. And sometimes you’ll write a pile of shit to get to that one piece of gold. It’s part of the process.
The sooner you accept it, the better for your art. And for your own sanity. Because, as it turns out, the two are quite closely related.
But then again, what do I know…
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