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Transcript

Be a Creator, Not a Critic · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to the creative arts, there have always been two roles in society, those who create and those who are critics.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: The creators are the ones who make things.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: They make buildings, cars, computers, books, plays, speeches, movies, rockets, and a million other things.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: The creators are the ones who move culture forward.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: They invent, they design, they use their creative powers to stick their necks out, they add value to others, and ultimately they risk being criticized by those who don't like what they do.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Critics, on the other hand, play a limited role in society.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Critics are the ones who stay safely in the distance.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: They spend most of their energy pointing out the flaws in other people's creative work.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: There have always been critics, of course, and they have a certain value in culture, because we need people to offer intelligent reflection and commentary on society.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: But make no mistake, this is not where the real action is.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: The real action lies in creating something.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: So which would you rather be?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: The creator who makes things for critics to comment on, or the critic who just rides the creator's coattails.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, a man is a critic when he cannot be an artist, in the same way that a man becomes an informer when he cannot be a soldier.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's easier and oftentimes more fun to be a critic.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And why not?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: You get to sit back and relax while other people do the hard work of creating.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get to offer your opinion and commentary, all while never taking one ounce of risk.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this day, choose to be a creator.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Choose to be the one who puts in the work and adds value to society.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Choose to create with your words and through other means as well.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Don't fall into the trap of just being a critic.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you know that one of the four practices of a great writer is creativity.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to stay creative, you've got to have great input.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where writing prompts come in.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: A writing prompt is a sentence or two that helps you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Writing prompts are an awesome creative tool for journaling, storytelling, creative writing, stress relief, social media posts, and so much more.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: But the great news is that you don't have to create these yourself.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: We've put together an amazing package of 365 daily writing prompts.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So every day for the next year, you can have a shot of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out at dailywriterlife.com slash writing prompts.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.