"Real Artists Ship"
A month ago, on Facebook, I posted a link to the following page:
The RPM Challenge
Don't worry if you don't feel like clicking through and reading that. It basically challenges anyone with any musical ability to write and record an album of new material in the month of February. Write and record 10 songs in 28 days.
I liked this idea, and I did it. (I invite any of my friends to listen to the songs on my Facebook profile under "My Band" if you're interested.) Why did I do this? The article in the link above says it best: because I could. No better reason.
I was pretty sure the songs wouldn't be the pinnacle of my art. It's not that I resolved to write bad songs. It's just that I decided not to let the fact that they wouldn't be great songs deter me from following through on the whole thing.
Steve Jobs actually said this much more succinctly to a coder at Apple: "Real artists ship."
Perfection is the enemy of getting it done. The drive to be perfect is useful and productive in its own right, but it's all too easy to let it feed you an endless list of excuses to avoid shipping. That mentality might not get you to Carnegie Hall, as the old joke goes, but it will move you forward.
The RPM Challenge
Don't worry if you don't feel like clicking through and reading that. It basically challenges anyone with any musical ability to write and record an album of new material in the month of February. Write and record 10 songs in 28 days.
I liked this idea, and I did it. (I invite any of my friends to listen to the songs on my Facebook profile under "My Band" if you're interested.) Why did I do this? The article in the link above says it best: because I could. No better reason.
I was pretty sure the songs wouldn't be the pinnacle of my art. It's not that I resolved to write bad songs. It's just that I decided not to let the fact that they wouldn't be great songs deter me from following through on the whole thing.
Steve Jobs actually said this much more succinctly to a coder at Apple: "Real artists ship."
Perfection is the enemy of getting it done. The drive to be perfect is useful and productive in its own right, but it's all too easy to let it feed you an endless list of excuses to avoid shipping. That mentality might not get you to Carnegie Hall, as the old joke goes, but it will move you forward.