On having something to say.
What does it mean to make and publish things on the internet today?
In my search for answers I’ve experimented a lot with the form. I’ve been a blogger, a journalist, a video producer, a podcaster; I’ve published magazines, built websites, and created motion graphics animations.
I’ve read so many blogs, articles and books on the craft, I’ve lost count, searching out every drop of advice I can find.
I’ve studied structure intensely, trying to figure out what narrative architecture makes stories more powerful. And when all else has failed I’ve copied other people to at least make something that looks nice.
But the thing is this: video, TV, the internet, cinema…they’re just platforms.
They’re just platforms.
Platforms.
That is all.
Being a brilliant DSLR shooter is cool, but it’s nothing the next guy or girl can’t learn and do better, faster or cheaper than you.
Knowing all there is to know about web design is admirable, but replicable.
It’s not good enough to be one-step ahead of the game in mobile publishing; a few years from now we’ll be onto the next thing.
Because there’s one thing you need above all else. Something unique to you and something no-one else can copy, steal, or do better.
You need something to say.
As Twyla Tharp says, meaning is what turns a verb into a noun. Painting is just painting, until you use it to say something: then it becomes A Painting.
Once you have something to say, then you can marshall the skills and techniques and talents that you have to create something greater than yourself.
Until then, everything you make is just food with no flavour.
But it raises the uncomfortable question: what happens if you have nothing to say?
I wish we’d all spend more time answering that question, instead of seeking satisfaction in the latest technical or creative fad.