It took, for me, a long time to develop this idea of what to do on the radio. But from the beginning of my time in radio, I had pretty non-traditional tasks.
Ira GlassRead
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
To improve your work, you need to produce more and align it with your ambitions.
Ira Glass emphasizes the importance of consistent effort and production in achieving high-quality work. He suggests that the quality of your output will ultimately reflect your goals and aspirations, and that it is through the act of creating that one can bridge the gap between their current abilities and their ambitions.
Themes
WorkAmbitionsEffortQualitySuccess
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech aimed at students preparing for their future careers.
More from Ira Glass
All quotes βAt some point, all comics have to go out and be retail salesmen doing door-to-door. And this idea of somebody who totally knows their craft having to get up for free in front of a crowd to work out some stuff they're thinking in their head, still, after as much success as you can get, is really interesting.
Ira GlassRead
I think good radio often uses the techniques of fiction: characters, scenes, a big urgent emotional question. And as in the best fiction, tone counts for a lot.
Ira GlassRead
It's hard to make something that's interesting. It's really, really hard. It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The natural state of all writing is mediocrity... So what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such an act of will.
Ira GlassRead
I wish that someone had said to me that it's normal to feel lost for a little while.
Ira GlassRead
When I was a bad writer, I would consciously imitate other NPR writers who I thought were wonderful. I suppose that everyone's artistic practice is different. But I collaborate and sometimes don't agree at all with my collaborators' opinions. It forces you to understand why you don't agree with something: what's the fight you're picking.
Ira GlassRead
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