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The Gas Pedal vs. The Brake: How I Get Creative Work Done
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Hello there, I hope you’ve had a good week. Today I want to talk about one of my biggest challenges as an entrepreneur; analysis paralysis and the technique I use to overcome it. Have you ever committed to a creative task—maybe, “I’ll write that article,” “I’ll ship my MVP this week,” or “I’ll finish my business plan”—only to find that when you sit down to work, nothing gets done? You stare at the computer screen and you can’t think of anything to say so you disappear down a an endless research rabbit hole, you put down a few words but they’re no good… delete. Yep, for me it happens a lot. What’s going on? This frustrating condition goes by many names: analysis-paralysis, writers’ block, art block, creative block, creative rut… etc... It’s what happens when you try to create and edit at the same time. Creation is a gas-pedal, move-forward activity (the more you do, the more you can do), while editing is a brake-pedal, slow-down activity. When you try to do both at once, it sends you into a frustrating start-stop spiral (just like when you first learned to drive a manual car—yes, I’m old!). Luckily, professional creatives—writers, artists, and designers—all use a similar, powerful technique: they separate the creative work and the editing work. The Golden Rule: LOSE THE DELETE KEY. Writers know to write first (without deleting anything) and edit second. Artists use mediums (like paint) where each brush stroke is permanent. Professional designers, rather than erasing a bad draft, will often duplicate the previous design step and tweak it, which prevents them from deleting the original work. Here is how Science Fiction author Piers Anthony ensures he stays in creative motion: I really don’t suffer total blocks, the kind that prevent a writer from writing anything for years at a time. I think such writers aren’t really serious about writing. I developed what I call my [bracket] system: when I come to a place in the story that seems to be a dead end, I go into [brackets] and discuss the problem with myself. Why brackets? Because the point is to keep writing, whether in pencil or typing, but not to confuse it with the story itself. When I had only the one pencil and paper, or the one manual typewriter, the brackets allowed me to do this on the same page without confusion. Such a discussion might be one sentence, or it might be three thousand words. Whatever it took. Then when I figured it out, I exited the brackets and resumed writing the story. Next draft, I would edit out the bracket notes, as they had accomplished their purpose, leaving only the text. As he says, his bracket technique allowed him to "keep writing" (and stay in the creative flow) without stopping or self-censoring. Designers apply this principle too. Here is an example of me iterating my way to a logo. I start by just typing the name “hype,” then step-by-step I modify it. I don’t delete anything. This allows me to see all my attempts and keeps me from accidentally turning on my "edit" brain in the middle of a "create" session. So, the next time you are faced with a creative task, try this: Create first, and edit later. See if that gets you to something you can finally ship. Talk to you soon, -Walt |
Hype School Newsletter
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