Apply Craft.
We spend too much time building and not enough time planning our work. Those who know me might say, "David, you hate tons of planning!" I do, humans are terrible estimators of time (another blog post for another day), but equally, I feel if you build without knowing what you're trying to make, you're making it wrong. Craft is big, but not more important than any other step in making better art.
I had the privilege of working with incredibly talented and dedicated artists. I am speaking of individuals with daily practice and wellness routines, people who desired critical feedback, and individuals that wanted to see themselves and others put in maximum effort to create exceptional music. What's the problem?
These same people often didn't focus on intention, form, idiom, or structure of their work. They immediately took to their craft of building without a plan. They were creating fine-enough music, but they could have produced better art.
The action of applying your skill, knowledge, and invention to create something is craft.
Your ability to craft well is a culmination of:
Lessons;
Practice;
Failures;
Coachings;
Mentorships;
Self-Help books;
Juries;
Performances;
Workshops; or
Any activity that involves practicing a skill.
That's the problem - we focus too much on practicing our building skills. School's do us wrong.
In school, we learn to comply with rules, follow directions, memorize, and know the right answer. We're focused too much on the wrong part of the process. What if we were pushed to think more about ideas? Or understanding different mediums we can use to communicate? Exposure to more and more ways of expressing our ideas? What if we were encouraged not to memorize, but to apply knowledge to problems that don't have the right answers, but only "the best" solutions? If we did, we would be learning how to create better art.
Create better art by:
Generating an idea;
Visualize the form;
Pick an idiom that best resonates with those you seek to serve;
Define the structure; and then
Apply craft.
Don't focus too much in any one area; balance is essential.
