April 2019 | How to be an artist
1
ARTIST LIFE
Can I call something “an oldie but a goodie” if it was published in 2012? Nah. And especially not when the words hold true all these (seven) years later.
In his keynote address to the University of the Arts graduating class of 2012, Neil Gaiman shares what it is to be an artist and writer who successfully followed his own path. Some of my favorite parts:
—Knowing the rules inclines you to follow those rules. So maybe don’t know the rules because then you can break free of the fetters that bind the creative soul.
“Leave the world more interesting for your being here.”
—Look for work that allows you to work toward your creative goal (in his case, working as a journalist allowed him to get paid to write while keeping his ambitions of novel and comic-writing in sight), and let that goal influence your career path.
—Failure happens. Don’t let it break you.
—Success is served with a side of imposter syndrome and a big helping of work trying to steer you toward someone else’s vision of you. Stay true to your goals.
—Every mistake is an opportunity to make good art.
—Make the art that you are uniquely capable of making. Sure, we all copy when we’re trying to find our footing, but at some point, we artists must shed the careful persona we’ve constructed and make what is ours alone (an act that is quite uncomfortable, for it puts one in a position of vulnerability).
“Most of us only find our own voices after we've sounded like a lot of other people.”
—Bring at least two of these three qualities to work with you, and you will likely find yourself successful: 1. Do good work. 2. Deliver said work on time. 3. Be a delightful person.
—Enjoy your success.
2
WRITING TIPS
A Harvard linguist compiled a list of writing best practices on Twitter, and another writer collated them on Inc.com. And yet another writer (that’s me!) summarized a few on her website.
The basics? Keep is simple. Drop extraneous words. Be clear and direct.
Want to get into the weeds? Here’s my favorite: End the sentence with the most complex phrase. (Just thinking about that makes me feel smarter.)
3
FIVE F WORDS
The five F words of UX writing:
1. Friendly | Write clear, concise, conversational copy that helps your customers.
2. Feeling | Wrap your customers up in understanding.
3. Function | Provide useful instructions.
4. Flow | Understand the product as a whole, and provide a consistent experience throughout.
5. Format | Sweat the details.
I love tech—it talks to me in my car, telling me where to go and the fastest route there; it allows me to save hundreds of thousands of photos and search them by date and other metadata; and alerts me to concerts I may want to attend in the future—but I recognize that there are some drawbacks.
I usually chalk up poor memory to distractedness and your average “busyness,” but I also wonder how much my mind can hold when I flip between so many concepts in a single day, flitting amongst internet articles, style guide entries, myriad emails, and photos.
Could it be that the lack of physicality associated with the memories we create online dampens their stickiness? A memory is composed of more than just the visual interpretation of a moment—a smell, a taste, a sound, a touch can all draw a long-buried memory to the surface—so when four of our five senses aren’t engaged in building that memory.
4
STICKY MEMORIES
5
DITCH THE SECRETS
Keeping secrets is tough. There’s the lying, the evasion, the care with which you must comport yourself so as not to give away a secret. (Spoiler alert—I am not good at keeping my own secrets. The burden is too weighty, the payoff too light. Plus, secrets build walls, and walls harm strong relationships.)
New research suggests that the damaging part of keeping a secret—because keeping secrets is linked with health problems, anxiety, and depression—is not so much the effort it takes to hide the secret; keeping a secret is damaging because you end up thinking about it all the time. It’s tiring, and it’s isolating to be alone in your own thoughts.
Sometimes it’s appropriate to keep a secret, though, and in that case, what should you do? Share your secrets with someone you trust, and if you can’t share, just spend some time talking with that person you trust. You’ll feel better, and it could bring a host of health benefits.