
Chuck Close on Creativity, Work Ethic, and Problem-Solving vs. Problem-Creating - brandoncarl
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/27/chuck-close-on-creativity/
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delambo
(This sounds ranty, but...)

I'm one of the odd developers that doesn't obsess over tools. I worked with
four different editors, last year - vico, vim, sublime, and eclipse - and I
can't say that I'm attached to any of them. I don't complain when I can't use
my favorite vim or sublime shortcuts (I don't even know a lot), and it doesn't
phase me when I have to hack some code on my 13" MBP instead of my 24" monitor
at work. Contrary to what most think, a developer that obsesses over their
tools doesn't necessarily make them a good developer.

"Show up and get to work."

~~~
thirdtruck
Agreed. I've knocked out hundreds of thousands of words of novel on my netbook
in vim. Having only low-end hardware actually helped me focus.

~~~
daeken
I'm actually in the market for a typewriter right now, for exactly that
reason. I'm setting up a room in my new house with nothing but a desk for a
typewriter, a chair, and a sound system.

~~~
thirdtruck
I could see that helping. It seems like transcription will prove a serious
pain, though.

More importantly, Linux on an old laptop could still support Dropbox. I would
have lost a _lot_ of work to a dead hard drive just last week if not for that.
It only takes one leak or one energetic puppy to destroy a paper manuscript.

~~~
daeken
I'm likely going to hire someone to scan/OCR and fix up my pages. It'll likely
only cost me a few grand for a whole novel -- a drop in the bucket compared to
good editors and all that. But that's assuming I actually manage to write in
the first place, which is a pretty big leap!

~~~
thirdtruck
Your laptop can serve as that OCR service and it can cost a few - even several
- times less than that estimate. Case in point: I write this reply on a $250
Woot.com netbook, which already saw me through a few novel drafts.

Please watch your costs here. My writing still hasn't covered the costs of the
netbook I bought for my first novel, drafted back in 2008, and I paid only
$500 for that one. A _hundred_ sales counts as serious success for a brand-new
author, and that likely won't bring in a grand on even self-published eBook
royalties (70%).

Editorial and other services (layout, etc.) shouldn't cost you anything close
to that first estimate, either. Dean Wesley Smith
(<http://deanwesleysmith.com>), a 30-year industry veteran, has more to say on
these points.

~~~
daeken
I don't disagree at all with what you say, but it assumes that I'm doing it to
make money. I see it as a hobby that I'm willing to throw money against; the
likelihood of me seeing a dime is incredibly slim, and not at all the goal.
Thanks though -- it's always good to have more info!

~~~
thirdtruck
Glad to provide! You're going in with open eyes to your intent, and that makes
all the difference.

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thirdtruck
If I learned anything from NaNoWriMo and from Stephen King's "On Writing", the
labor counts much more than creativity.

My 400,000 words of novel-writing (and counting) might only contain a few
gems, but it contains far more than the empty page of someone still waiting
for inspiration to strike.

Sitting down and pounding out _whatever you can_ for an hour or two a day will
make you a successful writer faster than anything other than actually writing.

~~~
SatvikBeri
Derek Sivers has another good article on this: <http://sivers.org/qlq>

I think the general 10,000 hours theory suggests that for the first ~2,000
hours of a new skill, all practice is deep practice (exact # of hours depends
on the skill, of course.) That means that for the first few years, quantity of
practice is more important than anything else. You'll eventually hit a plateau
and need to practice in a different way to continue improving, but that will
only ever apply to a few skills throughout your lifetime.

~~~
thirdtruck
That makes sense. Amusing how it fits so well into the 80/20 rule, too.

One might need those 8,000 additional hours to level-up into the next
Tennessee Williams but - as emphasized in _4-Hour Chef_ and elsewhere - just
2,000 hours puts your far beyond 95% of the world.

------
achompas
I'm a big fan of Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" for one reason: it
completely does away with the whole mystification of "creativity" as some gift
from a divine source. The plot is simple: creating stuff requires work. Figure
out how you work best, then work. End of story.

Anyway, I'm a fan. It cured me of all inspiration-seeking behavior.

* [http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Habit-Learn-Life/dp/07432...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Habit-Learn-Life/dp/0743235274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357159577&sr=8-1&keywords=twyla+tharp)

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chrisguitarguy
"Show up and get to work" is a large part of Steven Pressfield's The War of
Art [0] as well.

0\. <http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/>

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Ugh, I tried reading that a few years ago. Its pretty much a schlocky self-
help book with large doses of new age religion in it. I guess whatever works
for Steven Pressfield, but that doesn't work for me.

This website has everything that book has, and more, without the awkward self-
help spiritualism that's so popular:

<http://gapingvoid.com/2004/07/25/how-to-be-creative/>

Also, if you're "busy" reading /r/getmotivated and books like these you're not
actually doing work. You're reading about doing work. These advice guides are
traps and time wasters in themselves. Good in small doses, but after a point,
they're just as bad as watching TV.

------
brudgers
My neighbor, Nan, is a working painter. She starts about first light. Getting
started in the morning is a habit.

I read Vonnegut's biography, _And So It Goes_. He'd been developing his novel
about Dresden for nearly two decades before it became _Slaughter House Five_.
He wrote most every day, just like any other job.

------
ky3
"For inspiration to strike, it has to find you working." -- Author?

~~~
asmithmd1
Picaso:

[http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/30296-inspiration-exists-
but...](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/30296-inspiration-exists-but-it-has-
to-find-you-working)

~~~
gruseom
That site isn't reliable for checking quotes. The only one I know of that
tries to be comprehensive and accurate is Wikiquote, and according to it this
line isn't attributable to Picasso:
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Pablo_Picasso>.

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noblethrasher
Elizabeth Gilbert (authored Eat Pray Love) had some similar thoughts in this
fantastic TED talk: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA>

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vijayr
Maria Popova's blog is awesome. Somehow, she always finds those little known
(or unknown) books, quotes etc

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famousactress
Nick Cave's said very similar things about inspiration/creativity as well...

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MBqWikfETcM#t=31s)

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neilk
It's a good point, but you should also put it in context with Chuck Close's
monastic dedication. Unlike a lot of artists, he seeks out constraints. Often
times he starts out by closing off options, and then seeing what scope for
creativity is left.

For instance, he's done a zillion self-portraits. He thinks his face is
uninteresting, so he can explore pure technique. (Also, I guess he's always
available as a model.)

Perhaps this is all part of making creativity a predictable thing - he doesn't
get lost in infinite options.

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shuaib
Leonardo da Vinci was a chronic procrastinator. Ironic?

~~~
pknight
He was notorious for not finishing projects, or finishing them late; but
that's not the same as procrastinating by browsing reddit all day, he got a
hell of a lot done.

~~~
bgilroy26
I agree, the idea that Leonardo's works poofed into existence doesn't add up.

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igorgue
I can see the CEO of startup "X" printing this article and showing to their
"whiny" developers so they stop asking for a better work environment where
their boss doesn't try to micro-manage them all the time and distract them.

It seems like he doesn't care about when he works, but he has long
uninterrupted work times, which is great, and it's what most developers ask
for.

~~~
dwj
And then the employees of startup X would tell the CEO that they should be
working for 6 hours a day rather than 16.

