Chuck Close on Creativity, Work Ethic, and Problem-Solving vs. Problem-Creating

(This sounds ranty, but...)<p>I'm one of the odd developers that doesn't obsess over tools. I worked with four different editors, last year - vico, vim, sublime, and eclipse - and I can't say that I'm attached to any of them. I don't complain when I can't use my favorite vim or sublime shortcuts (I don't even know a lot), and it doesn't phase me when I have to hack some code on my 13" MBP instead of my 24" monitor at work. Contrary to what most think, a developer that obsesses over their tools doesn't necessarily make them a good developer.<p>"Show up and get to work."

If I learned anything from NaNoWriMo and from Stephen King's "On Writing", the labor counts much more than creativity.<p>My 400,000 words of novel-writing (and counting) might only contain a few gems, but it contains far more than the empty page of someone still waiting for inspiration to strike.<p>Sitting down and pounding out <i>whatever you can</i> for an hour or two a day will make you a successful writer faster than anything other than actually writing.

I'm a big fan of Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" for one reason: it completely does away with the whole mystification of "creativity" as some gift from a divine source. The plot is simple: creating stuff requires work. Figure out how you work best, then work. End of story.<p>Anyway, I'm a fan. It cured me of all inspiration-seeking behavior.<p>* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Habit-Learn-Life/dp/0743235274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#38;qid=1357159577&#38;sr=8-1&#38;keywords=twyla+tharp" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Habit-Learn-Life/dp/07432...</a>

"Show up and get to work" is a large part of Steven Pressfield's The War of Art [0] as well.<p>0. <a href="http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/" rel="nofollow">http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/</a>

My neighbor, Nan, is a working painter. She starts about first light. Getting started in the morning is a habit.<p>I read Vonnegut's biography, <i>And So It Goes</i>. He'd been developing his novel about Dresden for nearly two decades before it became <i>Slaughter House Five</i>. He wrote most every day, just like any other job.

"For inspiration to strike, it has to find you working." -- Author?

Elizabeth Gilbert (authored Eat Pray Love) had some similar thoughts in this fantastic TED talk: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA</a>

Maria Popova's blog is awesome. Somehow, she always finds those little known (or unknown) books, quotes etc

Nick Cave's said very similar things about inspiration/creativity as well...<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&#38;v=MBqWikfETcM#t=31s" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&#38;v...</a>

It's a good point, but you should also put it in context with Chuck Close's monastic dedication. Unlike a lot of artists, he seeks out constraints. Often times he starts out by closing off options, and then seeing what scope for creativity is left.<p>For instance, he's done a zillion self-portraits. He thinks his face is uninteresting, so he can explore pure technique. (Also, I guess he's always available as a model.)<p>Perhaps this is all part of making creativity a predictable thing - he doesn't get lost in infinite options.

Leonardo da Vinci was a chronic procrastinator. Ironic?

I can see the CEO of startup "X" printing this article and showing to their "whiny" developers so they stop asking for a better work environment where their boss doesn't try to micro-manage them all the time and distract them.<p>It seems like he doesn't care about when he works, but he has long uninterrupted work times, which is great, and it's what most developers ask for.