Stop trying to look cool

Nothing ruins good writing like trying to sound cool. 

This principle touches all aspects of creativity. The art that impacts us the most is art that is unabashedly honest; art that says the thing we were all thinking but didn’t have the courage to say ourselves. 

This is why great work is a moving target. This is why successful artists “fall off.” When the accolades come, and the name becomes a household name, honesty gets a lot harder. Before we have any success, there’s very little risk to being honest. But once we get a little traction, we’re afraid to lose it. 

There are very few things that have as detrimental an effect on our work as trying to look cool. The thought of what other people think keeps us from honesty, it softens our angle, it makes us play it safe. The cost is what got us there in the first place.