VIIMM FOUNDATIONS
The 50–10–40 Formula for Creative Work & Practice
And How To Use This to Finish Pieces and Master a Skill
Bucky, a great animation teacher I was lucky enough to study under, once proposed the following formula for our creative work:
50% preparation, 10% work, and 40% fixing.
Spending half your time preparing and only a tenth of the time doing the work seems drastic, but it involves a very important mental shift. You make more time for exploration and play. You experiment and create prototypes. Then you do the work of drafting, before going in to make edits. This creates a division between the playful creative phase and the critical editorial phase, strengthening both.
This formula can improve not only work on the micro level, but on the macro level as well.
What’s In the 50–10–40 Formula
Preparation: Play and Prototypes
By the end of this phase, you don’t want to come out with just a plan: You want prototypes too. Both parts are equally important, so you may want to spend equal time exploring your ideas and experimenting with what your desired outcome will look like.
