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The Bore of Art
When your creative spark goes out, a single interesting idea can bring you back to life
A very good book once described art as a war. That feels too big for me unless banging your head against a desk waiting for something amazing to fall out can be considered a form of war.
At the beginning of every creative project is raw excitement; at the end — exhausted pride. In the middle, there is an inevitable boredom.
Anyone can go into war. Only real artists can conquer the bore of art.
During the bore of art, you wonder if you really have to write another word, make another brushstroke, play another note, or move another pixel. You’ve done this before. Why should you have to do it again? It’s an empty agony.
Art is supposed to be a fantastic adventure with muses and demons and coffee. More often, though, it feels like a lonely trek with blank screens and frustrated dreams. (Thankfully, though there is still coffee.)
Naming it “the messy middle” doesn’t quite capture what happens in that seemingly endless period between the beginning and the end of a project. It’s closer to madness. You wonder if you should have picked a different idea, or a different career. You should have become a doctor like your mom wanted. You wonder why you can’t…
