From Kitty Hawk to Jumbo Jets: The Creative Journey

Creative takeaways from the coolest things I've found this week.

A digital collage I prompted called “Kitty Hawk”

Hey friends! The leaves are falling, the air is getting crisp, and my weekly roundup is ready for sharing.

It just barely works:

In Seth Godin’s blog, he writes:

The secret of successful product development isn’t an innovation that bursts forth as a polished and finished product. Instead, it’s sticking with something that is almost useless, nurturing and sharing and improving until we can’t imagine living without it.

Godin uses the Wright brothers’ first airplane, version one of VisiCalc, and primitive vine bridges as examples that prove the point. Such is the nature of innovation and development I suppose.

If you’re feeling discouraged by your own progress in a creative endeavor, perhaps you’re still at the Kitty Hawk phase of things. Remain persistent. You’ll be flying jumbo jets before you know it.

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Create Once, Distribute Forever:

In this episode of Ross Simmonds’ podcast, Create Like the Greats, he discusses the thesis of his book Create Once, Distribute Forever, in which he emphasizes the importance of letting the world know that the thing you made actually exists.He gives practical steps creatives can take to get their work out there. He states:

“If your content has value, it deserves to be shared continuously.”

Presumably, the things you created, whether that be the written word, a piece of art, or a composition on a musical instrument, are meaningful to you. What are the odds that literally no one else in the world feels the same way? Probably pretty slim. It could be reasoned that by not sharing your work, you might be withholding the very thing that someone else needs in that moment.

Promoting yourself, under this mental model, is therefore not selfish and cringe worthy, but charitable and worthwhile.

I wonder how many creators publish into the void without ever really telling another living soul? If you have dreams of supporting yourself through your creativity, are you giving your creations a fair shot at being discovered?

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One thing said three ways:

James Clear recently posted this to X (Twitter):

“Inspiration comes on the twenty-fifth attempt, not the first. If you want to make something excellent, don't wait for a brilliant idea to strike. Create twenty-five of what you need and one will be great. Inspiration reveals itself after you get the average ideas out of the way, not before you take the first step.”

Which reminded me of a similar quote by Chuck Close:

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”

Which reminded me of the early 21st century philosopher Joseph Dirt:

“Keep on, Keeping on”

Creative Takeaway? Don’t work only when inspired, find inspiration in the work.

Be So Good

The Steve Martin documentary on Apple TV+ is great. It features a ton of behind the scenes footage from the early days of his career, and introspective narration from the man himself.

One piece of advice that he shared stood out to me above all else:

Be so good they can’t ignore you.

Martin didn’t sell out stadiums at the height of his career because he growth hacked his way to the top. He did so because he was ridiculously hilarious—undeniably so.

Even if you’re not pursuing a career in entertainment, this is still incredibly valuable advice. Compare yourself not to others, but to who you were the day before. Improve yourself a little bit day in and day out. Let that compound over time until you’ve honed your craft such that you become the “go to” person.

Forget office politics and vanity metrics. Strive to be great, and the rest will take care of itself.