Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through. – Ira Glass

Having a technical blog on the internet is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long long time.  The tiny voice in your head that says “Your writing isn’t that good and nobody will want to hear what you have to say” for a long time kept me from making this into a reality.

Finding your own style and your own voice takes time.  This is, at this point, an aspiration for me.

You cannot build great things without first building something.  Experience sharpens you, and your mistakes make you better.

This is why Nabakov once said “My pencils outlast their erasers.”  Rewriting what you have written takes time and patience.   Editing and constantly refining is necessary.

This is rewarding not simply because the finished product is more beautiful and will be better received.  It is also rewarding insofar as you gain clarity as you crystallize your intuitions and scattered thinking into words that represent your best thinking on a subject to date.  When you don’t quit on an idea until it is brought to fruition, well said, and can be understood by another, you are telling yourself something powerful about the contribution you can make in the world through your efforts.  It is worthwhile to put yourself out there.

So this is my blog.  It may not be great, but I have hopes that it will become great.