Done vs Perfect — and the Voice That Hates Your Work

About this episode

The episode discusses the inner critic in art, the distinction between 'done' and 'perfect', and the impact of repeated self-listening on perception of one's work.

In this episode of The War with Art, we talk about the inner critic — that voice that shows up right when the work starts to matter. Eric, George, and Sheldon dig into what it actually says and why it can sometimes be useful, but also how easily it can tip into full imposter syndrome. We also get into the difference between "done" and "perfect," why art is something you surrender rather than perfect, and that strange thing that happens when you've listened to your own work so many times that you can't tell if it's genuinely bad or if you're just sick of hearing it. If you’ve got your own way of dealing with the inner critic, drop a comment — we’d love to hear it. “If it were easy to make, there’d be no point in making it.” Timestamps: 02:30 — What the inner critic actually says 04:30 — “Done vs perfect” 09:00 — When criticism turns into imposter syndrome 11:30 — The AI temptation 20:00 — Outnumbering the inner critic through collaboration Referenced in this episode: Dilla Time by Dan Charnas Ratatouille — the critic archetype Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” (speech)

People in this episode

Hosts: Eric, George, Sheldon

Topics covered

• inner critic
• imposter syndrome
• done vs perfect
• art creation
• collaboration

Keywords

• art
• creativity
• self-criticism
• collaboration
• Dilla Time
• Ratatouille
• Theodore Roosevelt

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Dilla Time

Books & works: Done vs Perfect, The War with Art, Dilla Time

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