How to set the world on fire
Focus is the only way to move from ideas to reality
The biggest misconception about creativity is it’s all fun and games.
Come up with ideas! Doodle! Play! Act like a kid!
And it’s true, creativity can be all fun and games… unless you want something to show for it.
If you want to finish a painting, you need focus. If you want to write a book, you need focus. If you want to record a song, you need focus.
Even artists need to cover rent and pay taxes.
At some point in any creative endeavor, you have to grow up. Be an adult. Focus.
The word focus was originally the Latin word for “fireplace.”
In the seventeenth century, focus referred to the focal point of a magnifying glass that was used to start a fire, produce heat and light a room.
Focus is literally how you start a fire.
This is true of any creative field.
Science fiction author N.K. Jemisin, the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years in a row, draws a distinction between coming up with ideas and creating art.
“Artists don’t need other people’s ideas,” she said. “Why? Because ideas are everywhere. At any…
