The Creative Act summary

From the moment we wake up in the morning to the second we fall asleep, we’re bombarded by information: upsetting news from all over the planet; photos from random acquaintances; and the ever-urgent emails that ping in our mailboxes.

As an artist, you need to become rigorous about monitoring your in-flow. Your attention and awareness are the most valuable things that you have. You can’t allow other people to fill up that space with input that you don’t really need or want.

Many of the most talented artists are also the most insecure. The same sensitivity that allows people to make art can make them deeply sensitive to criticism.

Artists don’t create work in the absence of doubt and insecurity. They create in spite of it. In fact, Rubin discusses one famous performer who still experiences terrible stage fright, even after performing for five decades. He walks onto the stage each even though he feels sick to his stomach with nerves. The only thing that makes him keep going is that his drive to share his art is more powerful than his fear of screwing up.

When you’re feeling too scared to start making something, the best thing you can do is to lower the stakes. Tell yourself you don’t need to create a masterpiece. In fact, give yourself permission to make the shoddiest piece of work you could imagine. Tell yourself that you just need to put in the time. Whatever you make is irrelevant. It won’t impact your career, and you don’t have to share it with anyone else if you don’t want to.

Allow yourself to enjoy the process of creating without being fixated on the results. As long as you’re consistently doing the work, the results will come. All you have to worry about is showing up. And allow yourself to have some fun. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, “some things are too important to be taken seriously.” Unfortunately, artists can take themselves very seriously indeed. But if you put too much pressure on yourself, you’ll end up having lots of serious ideas and nothing to show for it. You’ll become paralyzed by self-importance and never actually make anything.

Crafting is the least glamorous stage of the creative process, but also the most essential. It’s the phase where you get to turn your idea into reality. Crafting is like building your house, brick-by-brick. You make sure the beams are sturdy and the structure holds. You insert the window frames and doors. You progress slowly and steadily, checking that everything works as you go along.

Crafting can be disheartening. Sometimes the glorious visions you had in your head are hard to translate into something more concrete. You may have to accept that your work might not be exactly as you imagined it to be. But that doesn’t mean that your creation has no value. Maybe it’s taken you a step closer to your dreams. Maybe it’s like the first pancake of the batch: not perfect, but a vital practice round that allows you to make a much more delicious second pancake. The point is, you’re making art. You’re allowing yourself to create even though all the scary voices in your head tell you that there’s no point and you’ll never amount to anything.

Some people claim that art should have a purpose. That it should always be political, or advance the social good. These are noble ideas but they’re also misguided. The purpose of making art is to make art. No more and no less. We can’t control how it lands with a particular audience. And we can’t manufacture work solely to fit a cause.

That kind of art rings hollow because it's born out of pragmatism instead of creative inspiration. It feels didactic and forced.

If you take the time to tune into the world around you, you’ll discover that it’s filled with creative inspiration. Whenever you’re feeling stuck, ask the universe to send you a nudge, and watch what appears. By allowing yourself to play and experiment with your creative intuitions, you’ll develop your “seeds” into solid ideas. If the creative process scares you, it means you’re doing it right. Just don’t allow your fears to stop you.