Practice Makes an Artist

From Seth Godin’s (2020) The Practice: Shipping Creative Work—

Toward a Daily Practice in Service of your Identity (Lesson 28)

Julia Cameron’s morning pages help unlock something inside. Not the muse of a magic mystical power, but simply the truth of your chosen identity. If you do something creative each day, you’re now a creative person. Not a blocked person, not a striving person, not an untalented person. A creative person.

…

Yes, you can do it in private, in a notebook that no one will ever see. But you will find so much more juice if you do it in public. Even if you use an assumed name. Even if you only circulate it to a few people.

Knowing that the words are there, in front of others, confirms your identity.

“I wrote this.”  (p. 34)

Have you heard the saying “Action is the antidote to anxiety”? I can’t remember where I read that, but it has stuck with me because it rings true. That feeling you get after facing something that scared you—there’s no better feeling in the world. The world feels more expansive, you feel more powerful and capable, and, honestly, I think that you actually are. You’ve grown into a fuller version of your Self. You’ve experienced a slice more of what you’re truly capable of.

Why is it so hard to show up, then? To put ourselves out there in front of others, both in real life and “on the page”?

It’s hard to be vulnerable. My mind always reaches for an evolutionary explanation—the safety humans have found in groups, how dangerous it was to be cast out, therefore we now carry around an outsized need to belong. I also think we compare our internal, messy rough drafts to other people’s final, polished work and make the mistake of thinking they didn’t go through the same, messy, feeling-lost-and-losing-hope phases that we find ourselves in. Fear around “showing up” can hold us back in many ways.

But there’s something very simple about embracing the part of the process you can control. You can control how much work you put in. You can never control how it will be received. You can control the number of hours you spend writing your book. You can’t control whether that book earns you an agent, and a publishing deal, and then a spot on the bestseller list.

A “practice” of any sort frees our minds and bodies from having to decide, over and over again. We know from psych research that humans experience decision fatigue. That’s why so many books on creating good habits advise people to decide once and then automate the process. I’ve come across this basic idea from many writers I admire too—Marian Keyes has written that, after the success of her first novel, she quit her job and sat around waiting to be inspired with a plotline for her second story, only to realize she had to be ruthless about scheduling time to sit at the computer to write. The “magic” came only after she had curated the discipline to write. The cultural messages we’re steeped in feed it to us backwards. The artist doesn’t rush to her desk only after a lightbulb goes off in her mind; she sits at her desk, come hell or high water, so the lightbulbs can find her there.

Isn’t that almost a relief, though? That it’s a “leap and the net will appear” type-situation? Schedule the time to be creative. Show up for yourself. And trust that it will happen.

In her recent memoir Adult Braces, Lindy West (2026) describes it this way: “[W]hen I’m struggling with an impossible task set by an asshole (me), I try to shut off my brain and think of said task not as a deeply symbolic feat of willpower but simply as a value-neutral physical action. This technique actually works for a lot of things, including writing. Don’t tell yourself, ‘Sit down and write your masterwork today.’ Tell yourself, ‘Move fingers make words tappity tappity.’ You can make it good later.” (p. 60 Kindle edition)

“Move fingers make words tappity tappity.” – Lindy West

If you have been wanting more time in your life to write, create, and live a creative life more generally, consider joining my Creative Recovery for Academics group this summer. We’ll meet weekly for 12 weeks to discuss and apply each chapter in Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way. Email me with questions or to join: julia@juliagalindocoaching.com

Questions for Reflection:

1. “Shipping” creative work makes us accountable—the work reaches a level of polish it likely would not if it were to stay hidden.

How might you do your work more publicly? Whom could you show it to? Could you create an “audience’” for yourself on the other end who is expecting you to get this work done?

2. In what ways is being an "artist" a part of your identity? Or being a writer? Can you claim this identity through action – simple action – like sitting at the keyboard and making your fingers go tappity-tap, á la Lindy West? What simple actions can you put into your day that will help you claim your true identity? Or help you grow into it?

The Artist's Way: The artist is always on a path. Where will yours lead?

Extra Tidbits:

What I’m reading: Judy Blume: A Life (Mark Oppenheimer)

It took me a while to realize I’ve read more of Judy Blume’s books than probably any other author. I can remember staying up late to read Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret and, a few years later, Forever. I also watched her Masterclass on writing fiction back when I first had a subscription a few years ago, and I’m hoping to rewatch it this time around. All of this makes reading this biography of her fascinating. And I was saddened by this review in the New York Times that revealed there was some kind of rift between Blume and her biographer, that not even he understands, because you can tell as you read that he really took care to represent her and the events of her life with judicious neutrality--and even compassion.

What I’m eating: Unreal Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars—the perfect afternoon pick-me-up!

What I’m watching: How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (created by Lisa McGee, of Derry Girls fame)

10/10 recommend—it’s funny and I’m finding the plot compelling. It’s one of those shows you can’t wait to get back to.

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