In art school, we spent a lot of time learning how to give and receive critiques, because the fastest way to improve was to try frequently and critique often.

You learn very early to divorce your ego and sense of self from your artworks and embrace every attempt as an opportunity to improve towards an ideal you can never reach.

You also learn how to give meaningful criticism without being an asshole.

Writing code is very much the same.

Unfortunately, most software engineers haven't been to art school and have no formal training in how to give and receive useful feedback.

I recommend reading Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. It's a good book that helps you build a healthy mindset towards growing as a creative:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...

Yeah… no. It isn’t as simple as writing down any idea you have magically becoming a story.

I really don’t like the framing here. To be blunt, this person is being a jerk.

For a real discussion on the process of making art of any kind, I recommend reading [Art and Fear](https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...) by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It’s a lot more insightful about human nature than calling people lairs for falling into the same patterns that have existed since Art has existed.

I’m a fan of the audio book but definitely listen to the sample first. The narrator may not be to your taste.

The story could still be made up, but the source for the quote is this book:

Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

by David Bayes and Ted Orland

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...

While the tips in this article are pretty generic, I will say that working artist are among the hardest working group of people I've ever known.

It takes extreme dedication and an iron will to keep up a full time artistic practice.

If anyone is interested in the working/day to day of artists I suggest the following books:

inside the painter's studio (Joe Fig): https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Artists-Studio-Joe-Fig/dp/1616...

Art&Fear (David Bayle) https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...

This is well covered, though not directly, in the book "Art & Fear"[1]. The more creative ideas and iteration one performs, the more skilled and accurate the end result. Approaching problems from scratch and settling on one approach too early can result in a long and flawed project outcome. The tension is that more ideas are better than less, and when on a deadline can result in less attention to detail for a specific iteration. The paradox of our craft in the technical business setting, is that deadlines are typically imposed arbitrarily.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...

This is the running premise behind the book Art and Fear, which basically concludes that iteration with quality feedback is the best way to develop your abilities and produce your best work. That is, quantity is the best path to quality.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaki...