There are times when best practices promoted in your field don’t sit well with you.
They say do this xyz way, to get zyx result.
But upon looking, it doesn’t add up.
Sometimes, I think it’s because I am new to an industry.
Afterall, newbies focus on the art.
For them it’s all about the beauty, the prose, the output…but science backs up art.
Science is the elementary step-by-step method of achieving an art.
For example, painting. The art is obvious: Two women in a sunlit garden, one seated in blue while the other bends to pick flowers. Their forms softened by a haze of green leaves.
But the painter followed a proven process to produce the art.
He primed the canvas, blocked in the shapes, and mapped out a color palette. Then he layered careful strokes until the image came alive.
These steps are the science behind the art.
Most beginners don’t get this.
They want to jump to the end result and skip the science. So when those this-doesn’t-sit-well-with-me thoughts creep in, I want to chalk it up to inexperience.
But the experts are not always right.
What we now consider standard knowledge began as simple ideas. Established skills evolved from innate human traits. Making melodies became music. Penning thoughts became writing, serving others through products became marketing.
Existing playbooks started somewhere, became refined, and morphed into industry pillars.
And because humans mirror God’s creativity, there are more ideas and talents to be discovered.
The world is not over yet.
That’s why creativity and innovation exist.
You don’t have to be a revolutionary. The answer could be as simple as finding an intersection between two crafts.
Or inventing a unique spin.
Other times, it’s going against the grain and following your God-given instinct. Even when others insist on accepted methods. There is an intricate line between both: rigid frameworks and instinctive work.
The balance is trusting God above everything else and knowing the fundamentals first.
In writing, a common phrase is: know the rules to break them.
You don’t throw away commas when you don’t know their use. You’d end up with a weird write-up and a weirder stare from anyone who tries to read it.
Get the basics first.
Don’t ignore the experts; some facts are right, and you should take what you need. But don’t be bound by the rules too.
There is more than what is currently laid out in the world.
When you have an inspired, creative spirit, God can lead you into places that have not been touched in any industry of mankind.
Trust the Lord, know the rules, and break them when you have to.
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Cover image from kaboompics.com
