Category: Creator Confidential
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Friendship and creative work
Rebecca Morrison asks, “What do you do when your family doesn’t believe in or even understand your writing dreams?” It’s natural for you to express your frustrations, angst, and fears with your family and friends. They’ll do the same to you, because you’re close. You can let your guard down around them and be yourself,…
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Tell people what you want to do, and it just might happen
Tom Critchlow recently published his list of dream clients, and how he believed he could add value to them. (The post started as a thread, which itself was a response to this prompt.) It wouldn’t surprise me at all if some of these came to fruition. (In fact, I’m expecting that to happen.) Tom’s thoughtfulness,…
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Zen longcutting
A Zen student went to a temple and asked how long it would take him to gain enlightenment if he joined the temple. “10 years,” said the Zen master. “Well, how about if I really work hard and double my effort?” “In that case, 20 years.” See also “Why trying too hard can backfire.”
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Six things about glamorous jobs
If a job is prestigious, it’ll entice more people who want to do it; it feels existential. Many people will often be willing to do anything for it, grateful for a chance to give up their personal lives for the opportunity to participate. The people best positioned to do this aren’t necessarily the most skilled;…
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Showing up vs. disappearing
Anna Gat writes: I’ve been telling people that your number one job is to not disappear. It’s maddeningly easy to disappear, the stage trapdoor remains open. I’ve been repeating it with wild gestures, whenever someone breaks up with their famous cofounder, I’ve been waxing ex cathedra, when friends leave buzzing cities, upscale jobs: Do not…
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“How do you work past self doubt?”
u/blinkycake writes: I have a talent for art and a desire to start a creative career of my own making, but feel like I’m being held back by doubts about creative careers. I’m about to be 35 and want to start a creative career in art (freelance illustration and painting) and I’m haunted by the…
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Assumptions and big decisions
Patrick McKenzie says to Tyler Cowen: I had gone to university at Washington University in St Louis to study computer science. I was worried because the Wall Street Journal said the dot com bust means that engineering employment will cease in the United States of America. All future engineers will be hired in China or…
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Just write
“I don’t get inspired to write. I just write.” Salman Rushdie (via Backable by Suneel Gupta)
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5 minutes
In Springfield Confidential Mike Reiss and Mathew Klickstein write: Matt Groening definitely created the Simpsons, and the story of how he did it is truly unbelievable. Matt was a Los Angeles underground cartoonist when he was called in for a meeting at The Tracey Ullman Show. The series had one-minute animated bumpers (as well as…
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Creativity and data
In Nightingale, the journal of the Data Visualization Society, Victor Muñoz discusses applying my post on the four stage creative process to his data physicalization project. I really appreciated Victor’s post, which was a demonstration in how widely creativity is applied. (Other parts I liked: The journey involves Figma, a daily creative operation, and is…