Why we hate our work as creatives

I posted one of my Anxious Designer series back in October titled ‘Do I really think other artists are so much better than me? Or do I just hate my work?’ and a fair few people commented that they felt the same. I personally think it’s a little of both. 

Do I just hate my work?

One of my favourite creative quotes is one by Ira Glass all about hating your work because you have good taste. 

“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… And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal.” - Ira Glass

That’s not the full quote, as it is massive, but you can read the rest of it over here on the Goodreads quote section. I love it because when I first discovered it back in University things began to make sense. It helped me realise that I was in that gap, and still am in that gap, so the things I make won’t necessarily fuel my good taste but that’s completely fine. 

Or are other artists so much better than me?

The imposter syndrome as such is not helped when the internet exists. Before the internet, there were art galleries and books, but nothing hurts your confidence more than scrolling through hundreds of amazing pieces of work in the space of 5 minutes on Instagram. I’ve actually seen other artists recommend that you unfollow the really amazing artists that you’re in awe of on Instagram. The ones you’re secretly jealous of every time you log into the app. Removing that amazing work from your feed actually helps lower that impossible to meet bar you’ve set for yourself. 

Those amazing artists you’re jealous of probably have more years of practice under their belt. As Ira Glass says “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.” Every single creative book I’ve read and every creative talk or article says whenever asked how they got to be where they were - just do lots of work. Practice makes progress. Gazing at amazing art on Instagram doesn’t make progress, trust me I’ve done a lot of it!

Or is it something else?

Something else that I’ve come to notice is the strive for perfection. But because we often can’t reach perfection (because spoiler it doesn’t exist) we dislike the work we produce because it isn’t perfect. Having to ship a piece of work, whether that’s to a client or just to post on Instagram, without it being entirely perfect hurts us as artists. Instead we need to think about the phrase ‘done is better than perfect’. Done. Finished. Shipped off so that others can enjoy it. Posted to the internet so others can consume its value. 

If you hate your work, make more, practice more, do the work to change your opinions on your own work. Use the hate to persevere to make new amazing art. “It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” - Ira Glass

What do you think?

- Sophie

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