It's been several long months since I started work on this project, not knowing what to expect. Kjh was talking about the castle one day, and I took up a job that would completely transform it into something else. The towering height of the castle couldn't be seen on the megamap, nor could the structure really be complete. Some carpeting there, wooden beams here, on a building this size, it's impossible to truly be finished with it. However after this period of time, I finally found some light at the end of the tunnel. Once the cathedral was complete, it was only a matter of replacing large quantities of concrete and adding stained glass windows, fancier flooring, and a renewed sense of confidence. It's what I describe as an artist's block, and what Ira Glass describes as Advice for Beginners.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”- Ira Glass
