Smart People Should Create Things

Creation is the process of hunting for an abundance of raw material, experimentation, making a giant mess, connecting the dots, and attempting to package up your findings in a way that is perceived as valuable for whom it was created.

To create something is a daring, beautiful act. The architect, the author, the artist—all are building something where nothing was before. To try to create something even better than anyone has ever done it before is even bolder. Sitting down at the computer or with a notepad and committing to pour yourself onto it is a scary proposition. But anyon

This is good news. It means that your perennial seller does not have to be birthed in some single episode of genius. Instead, it can be made piece by piece—or, as Anne Lamott put it in her meditation on writing, “bird by bird.” You don’t have to be a genius to make genius—you just have to have small moments of brilliance and edit out the boring stu