Lichtenbergian Precepts: Abortive Attempts

If we are all — by dint of being human — creative, if we all drew and painted and sang and danced and pretended before we knew how to read or do math, then why do so few of us Make the Thing That Is Not?

One main reason is that we’re afraid of “not doing it right.” We’re afraid that our end result will not be perfect. We know that it’s not going to be as good as those professionals over there.

Every time we think about Making the Thing That Is Not, we can hear the Universe whisper in our brains, “You’ll never be able to make that perfect. You’re going to fail.”

And so because we can’t see ourselves producing perfect work, we just never do it. It’s like the kid in school who doesn’t turn in work because that way he knows the grade he’s getting: zero.

Fortunately, for Lichtenbergians, there is a solution: At the top of your paper, write the words ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS. Save your computer file, “symphony first mvt abortive attempts.”

Before you even begin, tell the Universe to get off your back: you have no intention of creating anything perfect, so the Universe can just go suck an egg. You’ll create what you create, and if it’s as crappy as you feared it was going to be, then great! You at least have a crappy thing where that wasn’t anything before, and you can set about improving it or doing it again betterer.

Again and again you will hear famous writers, artists, and composers say the same thing: “The hardest part of the creative process is making yourself start.” They too dread the blank page; they too fear the inevitable mistakes and disasters that await them.

But they start. They know that’s the only way you get to the end.

You can read a whole lot more about ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS and how great minds have used them to create their works in Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy.