Ira Glass on Storytelling

I recently watched a clip of Ira Glass, host of radio program This American Life, talk about storytelling and its challenges when starting out.

Ira stressed the fact that those who go into creative work do so because they have good taste but when starting out, many creative minds don't make very good work. This isn't because they aren't talented or don't have an abundance of creative juices. Rather, it's because good work simply takes a lot of practice and a lot of bad predecessors before it makes itself seen.

As a writer, creator and aspiring journalist, these words were extremely inspiring and I think ring very, very true. Creative work is unique in that there is never a right or wrong answer. Therefore, the quality of the work is tough to assess. That said, artists with good taste know the difference and it can be really disheartening to put your entire soul into something and have it come out the other end as a disappointing final product. There's definitely something to be said for making more and more stuff, whatever it may be in order to finally start creating work that you can be proud of.

I'm not sure if I've reached the point where I can start enjoying and really feeling proud of many of my final products. With most of the things I create, I feel good about their completion and find myself in a kind of neutrality about their quality. I don't think they are bad but none of them are transcendent or particularly innovative. I'm confident that as I make more creative work, things will improve. How good will they be? That remains to be seen, but they will get better. Thanks, Ira.

-Taylor Wilson