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Author Topic: I like this quote by Ira Glass  (Read 3190 times)

Steve Weldon

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I like this quote by Ira Glass
« on: September 30, 2011, 10:46:31 pm »

"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."
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Monito

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2011, 08:52:55 am »

+1

It would be good to distill that into a pithy one- or two-liner.  Maybe:

"The hardest part of becoming a skilled creator is the years that your taste will far exceed your skill.  It must be endured and work must be produced to get through it."
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Steve Weldon

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2011, 10:26:43 am »

+1

It would be good to distill that into a pithy one- or two-liner.  Maybe:

"The hardest part of becoming a skilled creator is the years that your taste will far exceed your skill.  It must be endured and work must be produced to get through it."
It's fun to try and rewrite, to better effect. 
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RSL

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2011, 11:44:18 am »

Steve, I certainly agree with what Ira's saying, but I'm not sure "taste" is the right word. In my own experience at least, "taste" usually implies a sort of fussy concern with things being in their correct places, colors blending properly and being "tasteful," people wearing "tasteful" clothes, restaurants decorating their tables with "tasteful" flower arrangements, etc.

I don't believe people become artists because they have "good taste." Seems to me some of the world's greatest artists did things that were "tasteless." I guess Picasso would top that list, along with Braque. Cubism certainly wasn't considered to be tasteful, at least not at first, and Picasso's later works shocked the tasteful.

I guess I'd change Ira's second sentence to read something like this: "All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have an irresistible desire to express our reactions to the world around us." There's probably a word for that, but as I get older I have a harder and harder time coming up with the word I want. On the other hand I know it's not "taste." And the "special thing" Ira's talking about isn't "taste," it's the ability of your work to convey meaning to other people.
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ckimmerle

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2011, 11:48:05 am »

It would be good to distill that into a pithy one- or two-liner.

I would normally agree, but Ira Glass has such a great delivery that I'm not sure it would be the same.

And, Russ, I thought that at first, but it's an argument of semantics. By "taste", I really think he means something more akin to personal standards or, perhaps, expectations.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2011, 11:50:33 am by ckimmerle »
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feppe

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2011, 11:50:11 am »

I don't think Mr Glass is using the word "taste" to mean having a good, socially acceptable taste, or any level of political correctness, but rather in the sense of "having a good eye." I'd google the definition of "taste," but that's frowned upon here - I'm sure there's a definition for it which fits the quote.

RSL

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2011, 01:30:19 pm »

Chuck, I think you're right about what Ira means; it would pretty much have to be that way because I'm sure he's not talking about flower arrangements on restaurant tables. But I still question whether or not the word is misleading in his context.

Harri, How about definitions from the New Oxford American Dictionary? Here they are. I've left out the verb form. I don't have an equivalent British dictionary, so if there's a difference, maybe Jeremy can help out. I'd draw your attention to "Conformity or failure to conform with generally held views..."

taste

▶ noun
 
1.   The sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a substance: the wine had a fruity taste.

• the faculty of perceiving this quality: birds do not have a highly developed sense of taste.
• a small portion of food or drink taken as a sample: try a taste of Gorgonzola.
• a brief experience of something, conveying its basic character: it was his first taste of serious action.

2.   A person's liking for particular flavors: this pudding is too sweet for my taste.
 
• a person's tendency to like and dislike certain things: he found the aggressive competitiveness of the profession was not to his taste.
• (taste for) a liking for or interest in (something): have you lost your taste for fancy restaurants?
• the ability to discern what is of good quality or of a high aesthetic standard: she has awful taste in literature.
• conformity or failure to conform with generally held views concerning what is offensive or acceptable: that's a joke in very bad taste.

▶ phrases

a bad (or bitter) taste in someone's mouth informal a feeling of distress or disgust following an experience: this incident has left a bad taste in all our mouths.

to taste in the amount needed to give a flavor pleasing to someone eating a dish: add salt and pepper to taste.

ORIGIN: Middle English (also in the sense ‘touch’): from Old French tast (noun), taster (verb) ‘touch, try, taste,’ perhaps based on a blend of Latin tangere ‘to touch’ and gustare ‘to taste.’
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ckimmerle

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2011, 02:50:52 pm »

• conformity or failure to conform with generally held views concerning what is offensive or acceptable...

Now this definition may actually be relevant
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Steve Weldon

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2011, 05:48:28 pm »

Is the word we're looking for "artistic acumen?"
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feppe

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2011, 09:22:17 pm »

I don't get why people are quibbling about the wording when everyone knows exactly what the quote means.

RSL

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2011, 09:32:40 pm »

It's not a quibble, Harri. The English language is a beautiful thing, and when it's misused the misuse demands a correction. Nobody's quibbling with Ira's statement. Yes, we all know what he meant.
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feppe

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2011, 09:45:23 pm »

There's no misuse. He used the word correctly.

RSL

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2011, 09:48:01 pm »

Well, if it grabs you, whether it's correct or incorrect, run with it.
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Steve Weldon

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2011, 10:44:46 pm »

I don't get why people are quibbling about the wording when everyone knows exactly what the quote means.
As you said, there really is nothing wrong with the quote or the way "taste" was used.  It's a great quote and it slams home when I look back at several areas of my life, as it's intended to do.

Yet, I wonder if Ira could have reached more of his intended audience with even more impact, through more elegant or perhaps a more brief use of words.  It's a fair criticism to question.   But the real reason we're playing wordsmith isn't to correct Ira Glass, but to enjoy the language and through the process enhance our own use of English.
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Monito

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Re: I like this quote by Ira Glass
« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2011, 10:54:53 pm »

It's a great quote, and I would fully enjoy Ira Glass' delivery, as I've heard him many times on NPR when I was in California.

The wisdom in it is very useful to communicate to new photographers.  It would be most effectively communicated in forum postings if it were brief and pithy.  Without suggesting Glass change his style, that was my motivation:  a new phrasing for a different medium.
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