Here is the full transcript and summary of Austin Martino’s talk titled “Think Like a 4 Year Old, The Cure to Writer’s Block” at TEDxTIU conference.
In this TEDx talk, Austin Martino discusses writer’s block as a college student and aspiring photographer and videographer. He explains how he often struggled with writer’s block and how it affected his ability to think and create. He introduces the concept of the “creative gap,” which refers to the disparity between one’s taste and skill in the creative journey, and explains how this gap can cause writer’s block.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
I want you to imagine you’re a college student sitting at a cafe enjoying whatever drink you prefer. Maybe it’s a coffee, tea, whatever. Now it’s a good day. It’s sunny, you slept in, you’re enjoying your drink. I mean, things are great.
Now you’ve come here today because you know you have a paper due at exactly 11.59pm. And even though you skipped the last couple of classes, you’re not too worried. I mean, you asked that friend who’s not really your friend what’s going on in class, so you know roughly what you have to do.
So you’re there, you’re probably on your phone, and after about 30 minutes, your paper will look something like this. Boom! Writer’s block. Now, you start to have a slight anxious feeling, but it’s not too bad, so you just put it aside.
I mean, you still have exactly 6 hours before the deadline, surely you’ll be fine, right? And on top of that, the hardest part is starting, right? So after about another hour and a half of thinking and doing some more typing, your paper will probably look something like this. Yes.
Now, full panic mode sets in. You’ve been at the cafe for an hour and a half and you’ve got nothing done. You’re banging your head on the keyboard and plus the barista’s starting to look at you. So you’re trying not to make eye contact to let her know you’ve been there for an hour and a half.
So, what do you do? Take a break? Brainstorm ideas? No. Instead, you start texting your friends asking if they finished their paper and joke about how you’re probably going to fail the class.
So, you see, I’m a fourth year in college now and I’m not your ordinary procrastinator. I would like to call myself a skilled procrastinator. And while that’s probably not a good thing, I take pride in it. A lot of times people ask me before a test, hey Austin, when did you start studying?
And I look at them with a cocky smile and I go, this morning. It’s a very different story after the test. And I do this with everything. A couple years ago, I started my creative journey as a photographer and videographer. And whether it comes to brainstorming ideas, you know, editing pictures, I tend to wait until the very, very last moment to get to work on it.
But the problem with me is not the deadline. The problem for me, however, is writer’s block. You know, especially as a creative, your whole value is centered around being able to think and being able to create. You can’t think, you can’t create.
That being said, I have a very important decision to make in my life. One, stop procrastinating. Or two, get over writer’s block. Can you guys guess what I chose? Yes, I stopped procrastinating. No, I will probably continue to stress myself out for the rest of my life. So I decided to try and get over writer’s block.
And after procrastinating on countless projects in both school and work, I think I found a solution. The good news is, it’s a lot simpler than you think. Now, with writer’s block, it’s not just with writing, but with everything. Have you ever thought about, you know, what to get your friend for their birthday, only to be left with absolutely no ideas or probably just a gift card? Or what inspirational quote to use for your Instagram?
Even if you don’t see yourself as a creative person, whenever you think about a decision with an outcome, you’re dealing with creativity. So in order to get over this, let me first introduce you to the creative gap. Now, during the creative journey, there are two parts. You have your taste and your skill. So your taste is often called your vision. It’s the ability to make ideas in your mind. It’s what you imagine before you make something.
Your skills, on the other hand, are your ability to make those ideas come to life. It’s photography skills. It’s painting techniques. It’s how well you can sing. These are all your skills. Thing is, these are never in perfect balance. And at some point in your life, your skill will be better than your taste. A lot of people don’t know this about me, but not only do I do photography. But I also would say I have a pretty good talent of drawing as well.
So this masterpiece is one I curated at the young age of four years old. Actually, that’s a lie. It was three days ago. And yes, this is an egg riding a cart at Costco. But when you’re four years old and you make something, what do you do? You show everyone. You go around the house saying, Mom, Dad, look, look, look, look what I made. You see, this is an example of when your skill is better than your taste.
This is a good place to be. You feel as if you have your ideas, and since your skill is better, you feel as if you can make all your ideas come to life. But eventually, as you keep creating, creating, your taste becomes better, sometimes better than your skill. This is when the tables turn.
Take a look at this picture. Now, while this doesn’t seem like a terrible picture, to me, this is not one I’m happy with at all.
I mean, the color’s a little bit off. I could have framed it a little bit better, tucked in the bottom more, gotten a better shot.
Now, take a look at this picture. To me, this is a lot better than the last. But to some, they can’t see the difference much at all. In whatever you do in life, eventually, your taste becomes better than your skill.
And this doesn’t necessarily feel good. I mean, you have your ideas, but your skill is not to the point where you can make those ideas come to life. You feel as if whatever you do, it just doesn’t look right. So what do you do? Stop? Take a break? Become discouraged? I like to see this part of the process as this.
Creativity doesn’t happen when you feel defeated. I’ll say that again. Creativity doesn’t happen when you feel defeated. But why is that? Now, to put it simply, the chemicals in our brain are not only correlated with our emotions, but our creativity as well. So what is in your mind is all jumbled up and mixed together. So we know that creativity doesn’t happen when you feel defeated.
So what is writer’s block, really? Writer’s block is actually really this. I’m not good enough. My work sucks. This clause doesn’t sound right. In reality, this is all writer’s block. Writer’s block isn’t some mysterious thing that hinders our ability to think. It’s really this. It’s a subconscious judgment of ourselves and our work.
So how do we get over this? I like to put it into three easy steps. Step one, perfection doesn’t exist when good enough is better than perfect. The thing is, in whatever you do, whether it be an essay or editing a video, what you think is the end is actually never really the end.
In reality, you can always reshoot that video, redraft that clause, or even redo the whole thing if you wanted to. It can always be better. But by understanding that it can always be better shows us that in something that has an infinite number of possibilities, there’s no such thing as perfect. Now, this is when good enough becomes better than perfect. In whatever you’re doing, whatever paper you’re writing right now, that is just one step in the long marathon of creativity. When you accept good enough, you’re one step closer.
Step two, take a break. Creativity is about silence, not output. When you’re stuck trying to type on a computer and think, I’m sure many of you guys already know that more thinking isn’t going to get you anywhere. In order to have good output, you must first have the space in your mind to entangle all that input you see throughout the day. Silence will lead you to good output. And more importantly, flow, which leads us to our third point.
Step three, just do anything, literally anything. Let it flow. Type something, draw that first line, take that first picture. If you’re thinking, hey, I don’t want to write this paper, then write that.
If you think, hey, it would be cool to draw an egg writing at Costco, then draw that. You’ll find that flow comes from starting, not thinking if it’s perfect enough. Have you ever noticed that sometimes your best work is something that you put no effort into at all? Or sometimes you feel like you don’t put any effort into it at all?
We know that creativity doesn’t happen when we feel defeated. But let’s take a step past that. I want you to imagine yourself doodling. So when you doodle and when you draw, you probably imagine it or you look at another picture and get to work.
You probably don’t think, hey, let me use my right hand and draw two lines at a 30 degree angle and close it off with a half circle at the top. Instead, you look and you flow. You see, the thing is, we don’t really know where creativity comes from. Much like thoughts and ideas, it’s just something that comes.
Creativity is really about flow. So when you feel as if your work, your best work, is something that you put no work and effort into, what’s actually happening is not that you’re not putting any effort into it, but rather that you’re in flow state. If you haven’t heard what flow state is, flow state is the moment when you’re working on something and it feels as if time has passed by in seconds. Cool thing is, flow state is also correlated with greater creativity.
So despite what it seems, it’s never about effort, but about being calm. So if you were to forget everything I’ve said in the last 10 minutes, I want you to remember this. Who’s the culprit of writer’s block? It’s you.
You are your worst critic. You are the one who holds you back. The one who kills your ideas before they’re even brought to paper. And where does this self-judgment that leads you to stop your flow come from? You.
But then again, you are the one to push yourself. The one to make things new. The one who can create the unimaginable just by allowing yourself to imagine. Your self-judgment is the sole thing that holds you back from your most amazing creations.
But how do we get over that? And the answer to that is also very simple. Think like a four-year-old. Simple. Think like a four-year-old. As a four-year-old, there is no self-judgment through the creative gap. You’re not worried about if what you make will get a large number of likes or if people would approve. You just flow.
But the best part about thinking like a four-year-old isn’t getting out of writer’s block. I mean, why even get out of writer’s block in the first place? Creativity? Quality of work? So you could make something somebody else would approve of? In my mind, I believe none of those things truly matter.
What thinking like a four-year-old really does is allow you to enjoy your work again. As a four-year-old, you didn’t know the difference between work and something to do. You would just enjoy the process of making something. You would create. You would create because you enjoyed it.
You didn’t care about that grade or if your boss would approve or even if you yourself would approve. You were happy. You were happy because you would put your all into something not for the outcome but for the process. So that thing you were thinking about the whole time I was talking, mess it up.
Make mistakes. Forget judgment. But more importantly, have fun with it. Thank you.
SUMMARY OF THIS TALK:
Austin Martino’s talk “Think Like a 4 Year Old, The Cure to Writer’s Block” focuses on overcoming creative challenges, particularly writer’s block, by adopting a childlike mindset. Here are the key takeaways:
1. Writer’s Block and Procrastination: Martino describes the familiar scenario of procrastination leading to writer’s block. He identifies himself as a “skilled procrastinator,” delaying tasks until the last moment, a habit common in both his academic and creative endeavors.
2. The Creative Gap: He introduces the concept of the ‘creative gap’, which is the disparity between one’s taste (vision or ideas) and skill (ability to execute ideas). This gap fluctuates over time. Initially, skills may surpass taste, leading to satisfaction with one’s creations. However, as taste develops, it can outpace skills, leading to dissatisfaction and the feeling that one’s work is never good enough.
3. The Emotional Impact on Creativity: Martino highlights the connection between emotions and creativity. He argues that feeling defeated hinders creativity. Writer’s block is not just an inability to produce work but also a reflection of self-judgment and negative self-perception.
4. Three Steps to Overcome Writer’s Block:
– Acceptance of Imperfection: He suggests embracing the concept that ‘good enough is better than perfect’. Perfection is unattainable in a field with infinite possibilities, so accepting ‘good enough’ allows for progress.
– Importance of Taking Breaks: Creativity requires mental space, not constant output. Taking breaks helps in untangling thoughts and leads to better creative flow.
– Starting Anywhere: Martino encourages starting with any idea, however trivial it may seem. This approach can trigger a flow state, leading to more effortless and effective creativity.
5. Flow State: He discusses the concept of ‘flow state’, a mental state where time seems to pass quickly, and creativity comes effortlessly. Achieving this state is more about being calm and less about effort.
6. Self-Judgment as a Barrier: Martino identifies self-judgment as the primary obstacle to creativity. This internal critic inhibits the flow of ideas and the willingness to experiment.
7. Thinking Like a Four-Year-Old: The central thesis of the talk is to adopt the mindset of a four-year-old, who creates without self-judgment or concern for external approval. This approach leads to enjoying the creative process itself, irrespective of the outcome.
8. The Joy of Creation: He concludes by emphasizing the importance of enjoying the creative process, akin to how a four-year-old finds joy in creation without worrying about the end result or external validation. This mindset not only helps overcome writer’s block but also brings back the joy in the act of creating. In summary, Martino’s talk offers practical advice for overcoming writer’s block by embracing imperfection, taking breaks, starting anywhere, and most importantly, adopting a childlike approach to creativity that prioritizes process and enjoyment over outcome.