Remember, when you’re starting out, obscurity is a good thing.įollow your curiosity, explore and create. If you follow the path (the rules) that everyone else follows, you’ll likely end up with similar results. I’ve long advocated for carving your own path. And because nobody’s done it before, they haven’t made up rules to stop anyone doing that particular thing again.

If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do. The rules on what is possible and impossible in the arts were made by people who had not tested the bounds of the possible by going beyond them. People who know what they are doing know the rules, and they know what is possible and what is impossible. Without further ado, some of my favorite excerpts:įirst of all, when you start out on a career in the arts you have no idea what you are doing. My guess is that it might help surface a few ideas, reinvigorate you and inspire you to get back in the ring. Whatever the reason(s) you’re not creating and not putting your work into the world, I encourage you to spend 20 minutes watching Neil’s keynote and reading the below excerpts.

Perfectionism, rooted in fear or otherwise, preventing you from shipping your work.

A lack of momentum/feedback to keep creating.

If you struggle with any of the below, like I have lately, I suspect these excerpts from his keynote will resonate. I thought it might provide the inertia I needed to get back in the ring. I recall watching Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech at Philadelphia’s University of Arts class of 2012 a few years back and thoroughly enjoying it.Īnd I revisited it recently because, well, I have only written 2 posts here in the last 7 months. To my knowledge, in 10+ years of writing here, I’ve only ever featured one other keynote. Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” commencement speech is one of my all time favorites.

Neil gaiman make great art