Quality vs. Quantity

Mr. Charlie McDonnell (AKA charlieissocoollike) made a sequence of videos this week chronicling his minor YouTube Mid-Life Crisis.

He was struggling with the fact that although he wanted to deliver quality content - his perfectionism was getting in the way of his ability to actually put stuff out there.

He would put in all this work and effort into making something he really believed in, but if for whatever reason it didn't turn out as good as he thought it should be, he'd chuck it.

Well, after a week of thinking this over and forcing himself to deliver new material every day for a week (mostly) he came to the conclusion that maybe he didn't have to pick quality over quantity.

Maybe, he could do both.

And that's kind of what I'm struggling with a bit myself at the moment. I love this place. I love that I'm being forced to write SOMETHING everyday. I don't do well with casual schedules.

I need a strong motivator for each day. And I find that if I'm writing without an 'audience' I don't hold myself to the standard of what I'd put on the Internet. That being said though, I definitely haven't been feeling as creative as I had been earlier in the project.

The amount of time I can commit to this place is less than it had been. School is taking a lot more of my attention. And personally, I haven't been too thrilled with what I've been putting up here. Things often feel rushed and uninspired. But at the same time I really don't want to quit writing and posting everyday.

I like to have the freedom to write more casually, but at the same time, I really want to start putting things of substance out there.

I don't really have an answer for myself right now. I'm thinking that keeping this place active is a good idea.

And maybe, hopefully, after I graduate, I can start actually putting in more time an effort into some substantial projects.

I don't like the idea of putting things off. If I intend on doing something, I like to go ahead and get started on it. Otherwise it seems like it never happens.

But I think right now, the worse thing I could do is to put MORE pressure on the creative process by trying to take on more than I can handle.

So. The moral of the story? Noting is going to change for a while. But after I finish school it’s time to reevaluate some things and find a new balance.