“Falling in love again with your craft is inevitable. Creativity is disinterested in the hive of productivity; it rejects the notion of optimisation and demands rest when it is needed. So rest.
And anyway, there’s always tomorrow.” - Me
We’ve got to that point in the RoundUp where I’m quoting my own past articles. Not sure yet if that’s a good sign or bad, but it does deepen the RoundUp cinematic universe I guess.
Hello, new reader who has no idea what’s going on and the other three regulars, - Welcome to the RoundUp! A series where I scour the internet for answers to common questions that tend to plague creatives and present my findings here.
Today’s question continues on from last article’s question - how do you fall back in love with your craft?
Falling in love, or falling back in love is really not up to you, it’s quite easy to follow the shiny new idea that pops into your head after watching a masterpiece of a tv show. Motivation and inspiration are excellent tools to get you started, but what happens when they slowly dribble away and you’re left with a dozen scribbles that require a lot of effort to make sense of and that next new idea is vying for your attention?
So, today’s question is a much more harder one to answer:
How do you stay in love with your craft?
Answer: Discipline
Sitting with discomfort
American fantasy author most known for her Six of Crows duology (surprise third book already out, teenage me is screaming. adult me is too), is none other than Leigh Bardugo (has her own substack, check it out!). Her debut novel, Shadow and Bone, was the first book in her Grisha trilogy and was nominated for the Romantic Times Book Award and South Carolina Children’s Book award; it was picked up by Netflix in 2019, cut after season two.
It also came almost fifteen years after she graduated from university - something that she outlines in her TedTalk - The art of discomfort. It’s a masterful TedTalk which details the importance of sticking with your craft, even when the honeymoon phase ends.
“Art is not about falling in love, it’s about staying in love” - L.Bardugo
Bardugo says that in that 15 year gap of finishing her degree and writing that first book, she “spent those fifteen years working a crappy job, trying to write a book but failing”. Why? Because she had not honed “the ability to tolerate discomfort”. Obviously, she has trained this skill, having completed the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Six of Crows duology, King of Scars duology, Ninth House trilogy and many more.
The beginner artist has very good taste and bad skills.
When they practise their craft, they can see the looming gap between what they’ve written and what is good. They are clever enough to recognise greatness yet not skilled enough to evoke it.
Yet.
That comes with years of practice, of repetition and curiosity. You may be able to write a scene with the most stunning prose ever written, but where does that sit in a narrative? How do the characters stand on their own, what drives them to that place in the story?
And can you mimic that same ease and flow for 150,000 words?
Perfection is never attainable but mastery is, it just takes years. Perhaps a decade or two. And time is the only difference between those who write a book versus those who only have an idea.
It takes more than one person to write a book.
Keeping with the book theme, it seems only fitting to talk about an editor next.
Alyssa Matesic is a developmental book editor -( she’s on Substack too) With 7+ years of editorial and publishing experience, Matesic first realised her passion for book editing when she was the editor in chief of her high school newspaper. From that she went to New York University for English and American Literature with a Certificate in Book Publishing. She’s worked for Ballantine Books, Henry Holt and Company and the Book Group. Now she has her own developmental editing agency, where she offers book editing services, publishing and writing tips and story self-assessments.
Her youtube channel, @alyssamatesic, which she started over 6+ years ago, has now grown to over 170k followers. If you’re a writer looking to get traditionally published or even self- published, her free resources on her website (linked below) and her youtube channel is very insightful into what developmental editors are looking for in a manuscript.
A series on her youtube channels features Matestic offering critiques to her subscribers, often picking from a range of genres and levels, her genuine, helpful advice anchors between tough love and good support.
How do you stay in love with your craft?
I think it’s the same basis as the question ‘how do I love myself?’ It’s self-answering, really. If you try to love yourself, then you already do - that’s where the trying comes from. The same can be said for your craft, you just keep trying, on the good days and bad days.
This has been a very writing-focused RoundUp, but the same can be said for any other creative output. Taste is curated early, you know what you like, you know what’s a good piece of drawing or writing, or piece of music. The creation of your own sloppy drafts is ego-crushing and disappointing, but just because you can’t mimic the same ease that your favourite creator has, doesn’t mean your taste is wrong, it just means you’re young in your craft.
Being a good writer takes years to achieve. People put in years simply because it’s fun. And when it’s not fun, they still keep going because they know they’re onto something, that all that’s standing in the way of them realising the book they visioned years ago is dedication to their craft.
So believe in yourself, I guess, is my ultimate message. And there’s no shame in being bad at something. Everyone was bad at something at some point. Learning compounds differently for each person, perhaps you get better bit by bit, perhaps everything clicks into place in three years. Don’t judge success on other people’s triumphs, focus on your own.
And besides, learning to fight for what you want is never a bad thing.
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Thanks for reading! It’s nice to meet you! Let us know if you like this type of content or if there’s anything else you’d like to hear from us.
You can find the creatives that were mentioned in this article down below, if there’s any topics or people you’d like to see me cover, let me know in the comments. (And if you’d like to be featured, let us know too!).
Thanks again for reading and remember - be kind to yourself!
Catch you later,
Kaye
Make sure to check out the artists mentioned!
Leigh Bardugo
Instagram: @lbardugo
Website: https://www.leighbardugo.com/
Substack:
Alyssa Matesic
Youtube: @AlyssaMatesic
Instagram: @alyssabookeditor
Website: https://www.alyssamatesic.com/
Substack:
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Read Part 1: How Do You Fall Back in Love With Your Craft?
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