Knock it off
December 16, 2009 3:44 PM Subscribe
I have a creative block. Every time I start a creative pursuit, I accuse myself of a lack of originality and/or plagiarism and quit.
I am a pretty decent craftsperson. I have two business ideas, one of which I would love to start but I have always found a way to talk myself out of business before I get my DBA. The self-talk usually goes like this:
Me: I would love to start business x! I'll look into how to do that!!!
EvilMe: There are so many other people doing business x and they've been doing it longer and are much better at it than I. Also, they're going to see what I've done and sue me for ripping off their ideas. I need to come up with a completely original idea of my own.
Me: Well, back to the drawing board then, because I'll never come up with anything in that area that's as creative as what others are doing.
I know this is just a bunch of negative self talk. I know that plenty of other people are making things that other people make. I can't seem to get out of this loop, though, where I am this person with integrity who would never do something that was even mildly hinting at plagiarism.
If I can convince myself that it's not a rip off, then I start the loop about how I'm not as good as others and should wait until I am better at it.
Writing it out, I sound like a psycho, but I could use a bit of help here.
I am a pretty decent craftsperson. I have two business ideas, one of which I would love to start but I have always found a way to talk myself out of business before I get my DBA. The self-talk usually goes like this:
Me: I would love to start business x! I'll look into how to do that!!!
EvilMe: There are so many other people doing business x and they've been doing it longer and are much better at it than I. Also, they're going to see what I've done and sue me for ripping off their ideas. I need to come up with a completely original idea of my own.
Me: Well, back to the drawing board then, because I'll never come up with anything in that area that's as creative as what others are doing.
I know this is just a bunch of negative self talk. I know that plenty of other people are making things that other people make. I can't seem to get out of this loop, though, where I am this person with integrity who would never do something that was even mildly hinting at plagiarism.
If I can convince myself that it's not a rip off, then I start the loop about how I'm not as good as others and should wait until I am better at it.
Writing it out, I sound like a psycho, but I could use a bit of help here.
Response by poster: I've tried Artist's Way -- not my style -- but I've done other creativity projects that have been immensely helpful. Alice Miller has me nailed but I can't seem to stop the loop... It really seems to be the originality/knock off problem despite the fact that I know there is very little these days that is truly original.
posted by Sophie1 at 4:16 PM on December 16, 2009
posted by Sophie1 at 4:16 PM on December 16, 2009
Here in Seattle, I live about .0001 miles from 1000 places to get coffee and read a book. I think the idea is not as much originality as it is "getting it right." Whatever "right" might be for whatever field/idea you are thinking about.
Starbucks doesn't have the best coffee, nor McDonalds the best burger, but they offer something many people want. They also leave an echoing universe full of room for creativity, not to mention quality and authenticity. Restaurants don't take burgers off the menu because people can get a cheaper one without leaving their SUV.
Find something you love and think you can do well. Do your best to maintain high standards and/or deliver the perfect product in your eyes whatever that product it may be. For example; most coffee shops have horrible acoustics and lighting. Many don't have enough comfortable seating sufficiently equidistant from the undesirably chilly entry area and the noisy and chaotic counter area. In any public place, 75% of the seats are crap. The "great" (stretching it I know) idea here is just that a coffee shop should have more of the good seats that ultimately make the experience better than the competition.
There are no new ideas. Everything has been done before. That isn't the point. There is always room at the top for the best of whatever the category is. Worry about committing to that, not what the competition thinks.
posted by nickjadlowe at 4:31 PM on December 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
Starbucks doesn't have the best coffee, nor McDonalds the best burger, but they offer something many people want. They also leave an echoing universe full of room for creativity, not to mention quality and authenticity. Restaurants don't take burgers off the menu because people can get a cheaper one without leaving their SUV.
Find something you love and think you can do well. Do your best to maintain high standards and/or deliver the perfect product in your eyes whatever that product it may be. For example; most coffee shops have horrible acoustics and lighting. Many don't have enough comfortable seating sufficiently equidistant from the undesirably chilly entry area and the noisy and chaotic counter area. In any public place, 75% of the seats are crap. The "great" (stretching it I know) idea here is just that a coffee shop should have more of the good seats that ultimately make the experience better than the competition.
There are no new ideas. Everything has been done before. That isn't the point. There is always room at the top for the best of whatever the category is. Worry about committing to that, not what the competition thinks.
posted by nickjadlowe at 4:31 PM on December 16, 2009 [3 favorites]
Sidhedevil's book rec reminds me of a specific Burns exercise that might be useful for you: the cost-benefit analysis. It's from Dr. Burn's Ten Days to Self-Esteem. You divide a paper in two columns and write down all the advantages of not trying your idea on one side, and the disadvantages of not trying your idea on the other. For instance, one advantage of not trying to do something may be "I won't have to fail."
Write down everything you can think in both columns. At the bottom assign a weight to each column (e.g., 30 - 70). I find the last little task -- assigning a number to each column -- really clarifies things for me.
Burns exercises can help you fight your EvilSophie1 and this idea that you must be 100% original to start a project. But you do have to get your thoughts down on paper in order to combat them and get out of the loop in your head.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:48 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Write down everything you can think in both columns. At the bottom assign a weight to each column (e.g., 30 - 70). I find the last little task -- assigning a number to each column -- really clarifies things for me.
Burns exercises can help you fight your EvilSophie1 and this idea that you must be 100% original to start a project. But you do have to get your thoughts down on paper in order to combat them and get out of the loop in your head.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 4:48 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Echoing nickjadlowe, there are no original ideas.
Maybe you can focus on developing a niche in the area you want to pursue.
For instance, t-shirts. That's not original.
T-shirts with pictures and letters on them. Nope.
T-shirts with a Ninja. Getting closer.
T-shirts with a Seattle-coffee-drinking Ninja. That's a niche.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:53 PM on December 16, 2009
Maybe you can focus on developing a niche in the area you want to pursue.
For instance, t-shirts. That's not original.
T-shirts with pictures and letters on them. Nope.
T-shirts with a Ninja. Getting closer.
T-shirts with a Seattle-coffee-drinking Ninja. That's a niche.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:53 PM on December 16, 2009
Seconding joseph conrad is fully awesome's brilliant suggestion of that exercise from Ten Days to Self-Esteem. Burns is smart.
As for the "oh, waah, I don't want to be derivative or plagiarize"--are you really saying that you're a better artist and a person of more integrity than Shakespeare? Because he had no qualms whatsoever about taking stuff that was out there and mashing it up with other stuff and turning it into some of the most famous writing ever.
Not that I think you really think you're better than Shakespeare, mind, but it's a useful reminder not to get up on your high horse about that particular bugaboo.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:18 PM on December 16, 2009
As for the "oh, waah, I don't want to be derivative or plagiarize"--are you really saying that you're a better artist and a person of more integrity than Shakespeare? Because he had no qualms whatsoever about taking stuff that was out there and mashing it up with other stuff and turning it into some of the most famous writing ever.
Not that I think you really think you're better than Shakespeare, mind, but it's a useful reminder not to get up on your high horse about that particular bugaboo.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:18 PM on December 16, 2009
Do you have any formal education in art or design? If not, then let me give you a little secret: originality is over-rated. In practice I don't believe creativity is the same thing as coming up with something "Totally New and Unique!" at all. It is about how you look at something familiar in a new way, and due to that new way of looking at it, how you tweak the details.
I find most claims of complete originality to be somewhere between over-hyped marketing and complete bunk. Recognizing that no one else is immune to your challenge might help you get over the concern that you shouldn't do the enterprise because you'll be a plagiarist.
Others will probably give you better advice about how to build your own self confidence in other ways to be ready to take it on.
posted by meinvt at 5:22 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
I find most claims of complete originality to be somewhere between over-hyped marketing and complete bunk. Recognizing that no one else is immune to your challenge might help you get over the concern that you shouldn't do the enterprise because you'll be a plagiarist.
Others will probably give you better advice about how to build your own self confidence in other ways to be ready to take it on.
posted by meinvt at 5:22 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding meinvt. I think that the contemporary insistence on originality is a huge creativity assassin, not to mention to root cause of a lot of shallow, gimmicky, look-at-me-I'm-so-original posturing. Artists of the past copied like maniacs, both as a way to learn and as a source for material. What makes us think that we're so much smarter?
What about this. Trying copying on purpose. You say you're a craftsperson. Find someone whose work you think is amazing, and try to duplicate it. It might be good to try this is some field where you're not so attached, like sketching. Copy a Picasso drawing. Or, if you're completely fixated on the other supposedly superior business ideas, study them. Learn everything about them. Write a 20-page paper on what makes them so amazing. Collect their ads, their stationery, make a scrapbook. Reverse-engineer their marketing strategy. Become their greatest living fangirl.
Then figure out how to do it better.
posted by ottereroticist at 5:44 PM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
What about this. Trying copying on purpose. You say you're a craftsperson. Find someone whose work you think is amazing, and try to duplicate it. It might be good to try this is some field where you're not so attached, like sketching. Copy a Picasso drawing. Or, if you're completely fixated on the other supposedly superior business ideas, study them. Learn everything about them. Write a 20-page paper on what makes them so amazing. Collect their ads, their stationery, make a scrapbook. Reverse-engineer their marketing strategy. Become their greatest living fangirl.
Then figure out how to do it better.
posted by ottereroticist at 5:44 PM on December 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
I guess I'm a little hung up on trying to parse out the difference (to your evil inner voice) between:
A) This is plagiarism, because I am copying something someone else did (re-writing the story of Hamlet, copying famous paintings onto t-shirts, being a cover band)
and,
B) There are a million people doing this, so why should I bother trying to compete in an oversaturated market? What sets me apart from everyone else?
There's a huge difference between A and B. Opening up a coffee shop when there are already millions isn't plagiarism. Being a cover band isn't an area where you will be fighting tooth and nail with billions of competitors.
The best answer to A is, "I'm building on an established theme, but doing it in an original way."
The best answer to B is, "Mine will be different because of X." [define X]
posted by ErikaB at 7:41 PM on December 16, 2009
A) This is plagiarism, because I am copying something someone else did (re-writing the story of Hamlet, copying famous paintings onto t-shirts, being a cover band)
and,
B) There are a million people doing this, so why should I bother trying to compete in an oversaturated market? What sets me apart from everyone else?
There's a huge difference between A and B. Opening up a coffee shop when there are already millions isn't plagiarism. Being a cover band isn't an area where you will be fighting tooth and nail with billions of competitors.
The best answer to A is, "I'm building on an established theme, but doing it in an original way."
The best answer to B is, "Mine will be different because of X." [define X]
posted by ErikaB at 7:41 PM on December 16, 2009
Lawyer: Sophie1, you say you talk yourself out of things?
Sophie1: That is correct.
Lawyer: Because you're not skilled, or not original?
Sophie1: Yes, that is correct.
Lawyer: And yet you are skilled in talking yourself out of things, and find an original way to do so each time.
Sophie1: Well, I...
Lawyer: Your honor, I rest my case.
posted by eccnineten at 8:57 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sophie1: That is correct.
Lawyer: Because you're not skilled, or not original?
Sophie1: Yes, that is correct.
Lawyer: And yet you are skilled in talking yourself out of things, and find an original way to do so each time.
Sophie1: Well, I...
Lawyer: Your honor, I rest my case.
posted by eccnineten at 8:57 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The best book on creativity I've ever read is Impro for Storytellers-- though it's for improvisational theater it's got an amazingly liberating philosophy that can apply to any creative endeavor-- "Be obvious! Don't be original!" I repeat that to myself every time I freeze up, it's SO helpful. The most 'original' people are the ones who are only doing what to themselves is 'obvious'-- what comes most naturally and freely. To TRY to be original will only produce the stiff and unnatural.
Something else I've found helpful is to trick myself into thinking I'm not doing it 'for real'- if you're still working on your skills, why don't you go ahead and do your thing as a 'training excercise', even if your 'training' will be indistinguishable from 'actually' doing it? Apprentices back in the day produced saleable work, and you can consider your influences as your 'masters', in which case you're supposed to be imitating their skills. By being a perpetual student maybe you won't feel so constrained to be perfect.
Of course in business I guess there are seperate legal issues-- if it comes down to "is this too similar" I'd show both pieces(?) or whatever to a few trusted friends and ask what they think.. 'reasonable person' and all that. You'll probably find a less invested eye will see a lot fewer similarities than you do.
From a bunch of fun quotes on the subject:
“Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about. “
W. H. Auden
posted by Erasmouse at 3:51 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
Something else I've found helpful is to trick myself into thinking I'm not doing it 'for real'- if you're still working on your skills, why don't you go ahead and do your thing as a 'training excercise', even if your 'training' will be indistinguishable from 'actually' doing it? Apprentices back in the day produced saleable work, and you can consider your influences as your 'masters', in which case you're supposed to be imitating their skills. By being a perpetual student maybe you won't feel so constrained to be perfect.
Of course in business I guess there are seperate legal issues-- if it comes down to "is this too similar" I'd show both pieces(?) or whatever to a few trusted friends and ask what they think.. 'reasonable person' and all that. You'll probably find a less invested eye will see a lot fewer similarities than you do.
From a bunch of fun quotes on the subject:
“Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about. “
W. H. Auden
posted by Erasmouse at 3:51 AM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
For me, the best antidote to this feeling is to read books about creating by people who actually create (instead of tell you how to create). So, I read things like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott or The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp or On Writing by Stephen King.
All of these people address various kinds of crazy that keep us from creating. By which I mean, in your situation, what you need to allow to sink in is that even some really successful, original people have probably felt that everything they do is derivative at some point, but one difference between successful people like that and people who aren't successful is that they push on and do stuff anyway. No matter what rotten thoughts crop up. One thing that is NOT different: That the bad thoughts crop up.
posted by hought20 at 7:43 AM on December 17, 2009
All of these people address various kinds of crazy that keep us from creating. By which I mean, in your situation, what you need to allow to sink in is that even some really successful, original people have probably felt that everything they do is derivative at some point, but one difference between successful people like that and people who aren't successful is that they push on and do stuff anyway. No matter what rotten thoughts crop up. One thing that is NOT different: That the bad thoughts crop up.
posted by hought20 at 7:43 AM on December 17, 2009
Best answer: remindes me of a quote I read recently :
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." — Henry Van Dyke
I agree with hought20, I've found it incredibly helpful reading about others creative process.
some creative/ business books I've found helpful:
The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real (Paperback)
~ Lisa Sonora Beam
Creating a Life Worth Living
~Carol Lloyd
The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor ~ Gail McMeekin
Pikaland Zine project "Good to Know"
The Good to Know Project is full of advice + inspiration from artists/illustrators/designers on creativity, business and life.
posted by ljesse at 2:40 PM on December 17, 2009
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." — Henry Van Dyke
I agree with hought20, I've found it incredibly helpful reading about others creative process.
some creative/ business books I've found helpful:
The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real (Paperback)
~ Lisa Sonora Beam
Creating a Life Worth Living
~Carol Lloyd
The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor ~ Gail McMeekin
Pikaland Zine project "Good to Know"
The Good to Know Project is full of advice + inspiration from artists/illustrators/designers on creativity, business and life.
posted by ljesse at 2:40 PM on December 17, 2009
Best answer: What you're missing is an understanding, and appreciation, of what you personally, individually, uniquely, offer.
From Sunday in the Park with George (terrific musical - available on DVD and highly recommended)
Also, consider this: you don't have to be the very very best at what you do. It's good to strive to do YOUR best, but that's completely different. The world needs lots and lots of good-but-not-best artists, both because there's not enough of the Best to go around (Yo-Yo Ma cannot perform live for every living soul who wants to see him every night), and more importantly, the not-bests bring their own essential essence to what they do. Who would you say is the best writer in the world today? Now - what if all the other writers went away? Would the world be better? I think not.
Offer what you do to the world. The world is a poorer place without it.
posted by kristi at 12:37 PM on December 19, 2009
From Sunday in the Park with George (terrific musical - available on DVD and highly recommended)
Dot: Are you working on something new?Your ideas may be similar to things other people are doing, but you couldn't do them exactly alike even if you tried. Whether you're talking about artistic expression or how you operate a business, whatever you do will carry some of you with it, and THAT is what will appeal to your audience.
George: No
Dot: That is not like you, George
George: I've nothing to say
Dot: You have many things
George: Well, nothing that's not been said
Dot: Said by you, though, George
Stop worrying if your vision
Is new
Let others make that decision-
They usually do
You keep moving on
...
Anything you do
Let it come from you
Then it will be new
Give us more to see...
Also, consider this: you don't have to be the very very best at what you do. It's good to strive to do YOUR best, but that's completely different. The world needs lots and lots of good-but-not-best artists, both because there's not enough of the Best to go around (Yo-Yo Ma cannot perform live for every living soul who wants to see him every night), and more importantly, the not-bests bring their own essential essence to what they do. Who would you say is the best writer in the world today? Now - what if all the other writers went away? Would the world be better? I think not.
Offer what you do to the world. The world is a poorer place without it.
posted by kristi at 12:37 PM on December 19, 2009
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This is one of those things that you just have to get over. There's no secret--just hard work. It's a variety of self-loathing/feelings of unworthiness, which are at the heart of a lot of neurosis.
So, you know, Feeling Good by David Burns, MD. And/or Facing Codependence by Mellody, Miller, and Miller. And/or The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller.
Some people have good results with Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way but I am not personally such a fan.
Could you swap coaching/encouragement with someone else who's feeling stuck, creativity-wise? Or therapy, if that feels like it would be a good investment for you at this time (see, it's not always my #1 go-to!)
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:02 PM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]