Do Difficult Things
Recently I did a talk for VGACT (Vancouver Game Audio Community Talks) called "Do Difficult Things".
It was a general talk about overcoming creative challenges in the context of game audio. Obviously this is a broad subject but I felt my past experience would be helpful to others.
Rather than just share anecdotal experience, I wanted to provide as much additional support to reinforce my talking points and give people an additional resource if they wanted to dive further on a particular topic.
I'm sure this talk recording will be available online soon, but I wanted to share those resources here for anyone who may find them helpful. You may need to read them through the lens of an audio person, but hopefully with a little adaptation you may find something helpful in your own craft.
The Element by Sir Ken Robinson
I think this book is incredible, particularly if you are an educator or anyone involved in the mentorship or training of others. I could also imagine this book would be helpful to those still looking for their passion and trying to find their place in the world.
"The problem is often not that we aim too high and fail. It's quite the opposite, we often aim too low and succeed."
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
What I particularly love about this book is how well Austin consolidated quotes and resources from others. It's very inspiring and offers a lot of validation for challenges we're often faced with as creatives.
“Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.”
Indistractable by Nir Eyal
I am thankful I do not consider myself someone who is easily distracted. I'm not really on social media anymore, and I have no problem being away from my phone for a while. But I am absolutely someone who will be distracted by work taking the place of other life priorities. Come for the productivity improvements (like timeboxing advice) but stay for the revelation that the highest priorities and values in your life should not get the scraps of your time left over after work.
“Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality.”
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
As much as I am a personal fan of hip hop, I was never much of a Rick Rubin production fan. His apparent way of approaching record production always felt like someone high on their own inflated sense of self, rather than looking out for the best interests of the artist or their project. I have since learned the error of my ways and while I still feel Rubin's production approach may not work for everyone, it's just a deliberate and methodical as someone willing to pick up a guitar and show their ideas to an artist directly. May be harder to get into for some, but this book spits absolute gold after a while and really does speak to some of the larger creative challenges we face as audio creatives.
“The goal is not to fit in. If anything, it’s to amplify the differences, what doesn’t fit, the special characteristics unique to how you see the world. Instead of sounding like others, value your own voice. Develop it.”
The Practice of Practice by Jonathan Harnum
I said in my talk (and meant it), I am so passionate about practice - I almost did my entire talk about practice (and may still do this at some point). Harnum's writing is obviously coming from the context of a musician, but it doesn't take a big mental leap to apply this to the craft of sound design or other audio specializations. We often give "practice" a dirty connotation in creative circles because it somehow is perceived as an omission of a lack of skill or talent. This could not be further from the truth and it was very vindicating to find some solid research and writing on the topic.
“Forget about the 10,000-hour rule you’ve heard so much about. It’s a red herring. What’s important is not the hours you’ve practiced, but the kind of practice in your hours. Focus on the tree, not the forest.”
Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Admittedly I am still reading this, but I can already tell it's worth recommending. Also as a good counterpoint to "Indistractable" above, there's definitely a tendency (and risk) of falling into "Toxic Productivity" where we feel that all minutes of the day must be optimized for peak productivity. But sometimes in doing so we risk losing out on the experimentation and play that can lead us to the most unique and rewarding discoveries in life.
“This is how you discover your life’s meaning—by focusing on your daily actions rather than the content of your future eulogy.
