Ira Glass on the Gap Between Taste and Skill You started making things because you love pottery or painting or writing so much. When you’re done, you look at what you made and sometimes all you can feel is disappointed. “Why do my pieces suck so bad?” you say as you look at your painting with your head cocked sideways. It takes all that is within you not to delete your fledgling manuscript and just give up. Ira Glass gave some advice about this phenomenon targeted to beginners during an interview. He starts off by describing the feeling of disappointment people starting out feel from time to time. Nobody tells…

Fire up your spark! When I am looking for fresh creative motivation, I often read or listen to books about creativity to get me fired up about the creative process. I’ve read dozens of dozens of books on the topic, and here are my three favorites: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon This book is the type of thing you would stuff in your artistic friend’s stocking for Christmas. It’s small and a quick read and it has lots of visuals. When you “steal like an artist,” you start by studying the great masters and incorporating the elements into your own work. The good kind of stealing helps you…