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Tag Archives: criticism

You Are Smarter Than You Think

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Jay Magidson in criticism, writing

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criticism, social media, Writing

You are smarter than you thinkDo you give more credit to strangers or critics than to yourself? How would anything ever get created if we let these self-chosen gatekeepers actually run everything? The truth is, nothing would be created. Critics are there as afterthoughts, telling us about movies, books or art they loved or hated. But they come only AFTER all the creative blood has been spilt.

Is our work being judged or thickness of our skin

When did we all become critics anyway? It is encouraged—no—required that we act as critics daily. Don’t believe me, post a video of a famous performer on Facebook. You’ll get dozens of comments ranging from how great the performer is, to how horrible they were to their ex. If you want to really torture yourself, put a political statement on social media. You’ll get loved and hated, complimented and slandered.

Why have we become so critical?

I don’t know why, but we have and it is not healthy for new ideas. It crushes the spirit of budding creativity. It you are working out a complicated or fragile idea and you put it online for comments, you might as well erase the thought from your mind or the file from your computer first. It will be crushed under the weight of petty commentary, and the reasons for their ire will be banal: “I liked the story, but the lead character has the same name as my ex-wife, so how could I like a story with my ex in it?” W.T.F.

There is such a thing as good and bad

Only time decides what is good or bad, what should be cherished and what should be discarded. But that is not the point, ideas need to be born, nurtured and matured before they are judged. If you believe in your story, flesh it out, work on it, polish it, rewrite it again and again, until it is the best you can make it. Then release it to the world. It is not yours anymore and if it flies, it flies and if it sinks, it sinks, but at least it exists. You gave birth to an idea and saw it through. This is a big deal and should be honored, not scoffed at, not ever. Creativity is such an important human endeavor, god-like in a way. We take an idea and bring it into reality, from nothing to something. Good or bad, you brought it to life. Dr. Frankenstein couldn’t do better.

If you hesitate to bring your ideas to life because you are afraid of criticism or ridicule, then remember to nurture them like babies, protecting them until they are old enough to go into the world on their own. Then let them go. Like our grown children, they will have to make it on their own someday. If your work gets judged and criticized, positive or negatively, put that aside. Who are these people, and why are they smarter than you? They probably aren’t actually. And if that’s true, then why do you care what they say.

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Where do Ideas Come From?

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by Jay Magidson in books, writing

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artist, creativity, criticism, ideas, Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, Writer's block, Writing

Many people have asked me about writing, were do ideas come from, how do I find the time, etc.  I’ve been writing for decades, starting as a teenager.  I went many years without writing a thing, and many days in sequence being unbelievably prolific, writing one or more chapters at a sitting.  Lately I’ve been a lot more disciplined about it all.

Permission to be an artist

Several years ago I was introduced to a wonderful book titled, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  If you are an artist/writer/singer/etc. please buy this little gem of a book.  In a sentence: it gave me permission to be a writer.  From that day, I set aside the early mornings for my writing, 5 or 5:30 in the morning (occasionally 4am when I just can’t sleep anymore).  It is quiet and there are no distractions.  My children are up at 6:30 for school so it gave me an hour or an hour and half to work.  Doesn’t sound like much?  Add it up.  If I wrote a single page a day, that is a book in 9 months; 2 pages a day is a book in 5.  That’s pretty good and is exactly what happened.  But better than that, my mind became trained to create.  When I sit down, I’m writing a few minutes later.  What about writer’s block?  It can be a real thing, but only if you let it.  When good ideas are not coming, I go back and edit the previous day’s work.  It’s housekeeping, it’s true, but it has to get done too.  So I’m in the work, slogging away.  And often the simple act of staying connected gives me good ideas and I’m able to move forward again.  It all counts.  Just show up.

Where do ideas come from?

Every artist and writer is asked this question.  And it is unanswerable, not because the writer wants to keep it a secret or hide some special talent, but because none of us really knows.  We read a phrase, see a television show, overhear a conversation and bang an idea for a story or an action for our lead character pops into our head.  Maybe it comes from God, aliens, angels or from a very small man who lives in our ears.  We just don’t know, but it’s magical and every writer experiences this magic.  It’s like a small Christmas present in July.  Just say thank you and write it down.  I do.

Do you have a story in you?

I think there are a lot of people who have a story or two in them and are not writing it down.  Why not?  What is really the risk?  What, that someone might not like it, criticize it, tell you it’s crap.  Oh yeah, those guys.  There are a lot of them and only one of you.  Over time, you learn to say “so what” to their criticism and praise.  None of it matters.  The only thing that matters is that you are writing and writing and writing, numbing your butt cheeks, developing a concrete ass.  Maybe something great will come out of your pen or computer, but only if you write it down, only if you release it to the world.  And if not now, when?

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