Your best work is only 10% of your collected works. This is true no matter how good your work is – the best is the best. It’s true for you, it was true for Frank Lloyd Wright, Joni Mitchell, and Ludwig von Beethoven. It’s true for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stevie Wonder, and Joyce Carol Oates.
Knowing this is a great tool for stopping creative paralysis. That’s because when I remember that only 10% of my creative output will be among my best, I also remember two important corollaries.
- The more I create, the more of my best work I create. If I write 20 arrangements, only 2 will be among my best. If I write 100, there will be 10 among my best.
- Everyone creates works that aren’t among their best. 90%, actually. And 10% of those are among their worst. But creating those lackluster works helped them get to their best works (and increased the likelihood of more great works).
Creators don’t know, when in the process, whether they’re creating their best or their worst. I don’t think you can know, most of the time. But you can know this: with every piece of art you make, you increase your chances of making your best work.