#9 Execution vs Expectation, 'The Gap'

As you may have guessed by the title, today we're going to chat about those frustrating early days of crafting. Whenever we pick up a new craft, or pursue any new creative endeavour, there is inevitably frustration because you have a firm idea in your head about what you want your finished piece to look like, but it's just not up to your ideal standard straight away. I honestly don't know a single creative person who hasn't been through this exact scenario … and I'll start with a little story.

A few years ago, a friend asked me for some advice. She'd started creating gorgeous handmade things for the first time in her life, and wanted to know how she could go about turning her new-found hobby into a little business. Handmade and business are two things I could talk about all day long … and we did just that! We talked about pricing, and materials, and batching, social media, how to choose the right market and so much more. But something was bothering her … she kept bringing up the same issue over and over again. She had a really clear picture in her head of the thing she wanted to make, but the things she was actually making were falling short of her ideal vision. She was frustrated by it, and I understood (because I had experienced the exact same thing), but I couldn't quite explain properly what it would take to get from where she was now, to where she wanted to be with her handmade items. Some years later I came across this quote by Ira Glass (best known for his radio show 'This American Life'), and it said everything I wish I'd been able to say to her on that day.

It's usually referred to as 'The Gap', and I've seen it worked into beautiful memes, printables and videos by creative people who must also agree … this is what we wish every creative person knew from day 1! You can find links below to the video and print versions, as well as the original audio recording of Ira Glass speaking these life-changing words.

"Nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish somebody had told this to me — is that all of us who do creative work … we get into it because we have good taste. But it's like there's a gap, that for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good, OK? It's not that great. It's really not that great. It's trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it's not quite that good. But your taste — the thing that got you into the game — your taste is still killer, and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you, you know what I mean?

A lot of people never get past that phase. A lot of people at that point, they quit. And the thing I would just like say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be — they knew it fell short, it didn't have the special thing that we wanted it to have.

And the thing I would say to you is everybody goes through that. And for you to go through it, if you're going through it right now, if you're just getting out of that phase — you gotta know it's totally normal.

And the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work — do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week, or every month, you know you're going to finish one story. Because it's only by actually going through a volume of work that you are actually going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you're making will be as good as your ambitions. It takes a while, it's gonna take you a while — it's normal to take a while. And you just have to fight your way through that, okay?"

OK … so, while I feel like he's talking mostly about writers here, and lots of people would apply this to artists as well, I believe this is 100% applicable to us as crafters. We are creative people, doing creative things. I have experienced this every time I have picked up a n

"Nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish somebody had told this to me — is that all of us who do creative work … we get into it because we have good taste. But it's like there's a gap, that for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good, OK? It's not that great. It's really not that great. It's trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it's not quite that good. But your taste — the thing that got you into the game — your taste is still killer, and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you, you know what I mean?

A lot of people never get past that phase. A lot of people at that point, they quit. And the thing I would just like say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be — they knew it fell short, it didn't have the special thing that we wanted it to have.

And the thing I would say to you is everybody goes through that. And for you to go through it, if you're going through it right now, if you're just getting out of that phase — you gotta know it's totally normal.

And the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work — do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week, or every month, you know you're going to finish one story. Because it's only by actually going through a volume of work that you are actually going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you're making will be as good as your ambitions. It takes a while, it's gonna take you a while — it's normal to take a while. And you just have to fight your way through that, okay?"

#9 Execution vs Expectation, 'The Gap'

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#9 Execution vs Expectation, 'The Gap'

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