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
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.
In practice
In a motivational speech aimed at students preparing for their future careers.
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.
At 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.
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.
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.
I wish that someone had said to me that it's normal to feel lost for a little while.
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.
I just wish people would realize that anything's possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try.
Don't just buy a new video game, make one. _x000D_ Don't just download the latest app, help design it. _x000D_ Don't just play on your phone, program it.
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
What We want is to make it possible for our unfortunate people to live a life of industry for it is by steady work alone that we hope for our physical and moral rehabilitation. For this reason above all we have undertaken to rally our people around our ideal.
The best recommendation I can have is my own talents, and the fruits of my own labors, and what others will not do for me, I will try and do for myself.
It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it.
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