Are you struggling with writer’s block? Are you an artist or creator who feels a lot of pressure to make the next piece great? Let’s break down some ways to overcome these things by reducing your expectations while simultaneously creating great work.
Quantity Over Quality
Contradictory to what you may have been told in the past, there are actually studies to back up the fact that if you focus more on quantity than quality of your creations (to a certain extent), your best work tends to improve. That is to say, if you spend a few months making a single piece of work that you agonize over to the smallest detail, it is unlikely to be of better quality than if you had made 5 or 10 pieces in that amount of time and selected the best one.
The numbers here will likely vary greatly depending on your craft, for example with music production, and for me specifically, I find that approximately 4 pieces per month is an ideal rate to then select the best one or two of those to finalize and put out into the world. You can swing the pendulum too far over into quantity, and, naturally, this will also have an adverse effect on the quality of your work.
I am not advocating that you don’t put adequate attention and care into your craft, only that the time spent should be optimized. If you are struggling with writers block, or you feel like you are agonizing over every detail only to be disappointed with the results, then you are probably in a camp that many artists, myself included, have been in, and you need to be moving on quicker and making more art.
It’s Okay To Make Bad Art
If you are subscribing to the school of thought I have prescribed above, which is that to a healthy degree, one should prioritize quantity over quality, then naturally, you will make some bad art on occasion. The great part is, that if you are creating enough work, you can afford to throw out the bad ones without feeling like you’ve wasted a ton of time. You can make 4 songs a month and only release 2, and still, that is more than most musical artists do. In this sense, you can relax while you are creating, and know that you have the freedom to explore and express whatever you want, without feeling like it has to be good.
Ironically, while accepting this maxim, I have felt like a higher percentage of my work actually does turn out good. When you feel pressure to make sure that whatever you’re working on turns out good, you are suppressing the creative side of yourself. Thus, your work becomes less creative and less interesting. So, by allowing yourself to make bad art, you may find that you are simultaneously allowing yourself to make good art.
Closing Thoughts
I hope this short passage has been a helpful reminder to take your creative work less seriously and have more fun, as this is a field in which you can do your best when you are fully immersed and excited about your work.
I am a drum and bass music producer and if you would like to hear my work please feel welcome to click here
Stay creative my friend!
-Ryahu
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