"Treat everything as experimental"

I’ve subscribed for years to a wonderful newsletter called The Creative Independent, which publishes informal interviews with creative workers across a multitude of disciplines. Recommended.

A few days ago, they published an interview with a writer/editor named Sarah Leonard. The whole interview is insightful, and you should read it. But this final exchange really hit home for me:

What piece of creative advice do you wish you’d had at the beginning of your career?

I think to treat everything as quite experimental. To go into each endeavor trying to learn something, instead of trying to get it right. I think by learning, you ultimately have the best shot of getting it right, but it’s important to take that pressure off that you always have to know the answer. That commitment to experimentation is tremendously helpful to the creative process.

What a good encouragement! It’s so positive to intentionally encourage a spirit of play in one’s work — even if you’re very good at your work. Probably particularly if you’re very good at your work. Expertise is a dead-end road, with nothing at the end of it but my own thoughts; why would I want to end up there?

And, also: how freeing not to have to be responsible for always having the answers! Do your best, approach your work with a spirit of curiosity, and remain open-minded, so that you’re not closed off to someone else’s good idea when it presents itself. It makes the journey much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Freely — jamie