A few years ago, in my day job, I was lucky enough to hear Grayson Perry speak.
He might have addressed us as Claire, or as himself. I don’t remember. It might have been the first time I heard the analogy of the Helsinki bus station. What I do remember is how profoundly practical he was about the business of making art. In being practical, he was inspiring.
He said there were just three rules to being successfully creative: Turn up on time; Do the work; Be nice to people.
It’s such a simple little phrase, but there really is everything you need to know in it. When the pandemic hit and we were all confined to little boxes and when motivation, be it carrot or stick, was needed just to get each of us to drag ourselves to work each day, this little set of rules gave me everything I needed to do just that.
Firstly, turn up on time. Of course, it’s just good manners. It’s respectful. But it also means have some respect for yourself. Turn up on time not just for others, but for yourself. I try to set aside some time every single day for writing. I haven’t always stuck with that, but I’ve been far more productive in all the periods I have than through any grand marathon yet sporadic writing sessions. I believe that implicit in this phrase, turn up on time, is instruction to have a time to turn up for at all. Show yourself some respect. Show your craft some respect. Schedule some time just for you to do your thing. And stick to it.
The second part of the message – do the work – is as valuable if not more so. I can’t remember who said it (possibly Logan Murray the excellent stand-up teacher) but they observed that actors find acting so exposing that they would much rather sit around and talk about it than do it. Though that is true of most forms of work. Most work involves exposing yourself in some way: write from the heart, promise to be funny, reveal your character; have an opinion in the meeting. It would be far easier not to do it, but to talk about it. To plan. To mull. To muse. Grayson reminds us that we can’t. We must get on with it. We must do the thing. If we are writers we must write. If we are attendees at a meeting we must speak up. Do the work.
And finally, be nice to people. I love this almost more than the others. Because life is hard and we’re trained to see it as a competition. Led to believe that to win, to succeed, we must assert ourselves more than others. I’m sure for some people that is true. But it’s a horrible way to go about your life.
Be nice to people. Be nice to people because you don’t know what they’re going through. Be nice to people because people don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel. Because it doesn’t cost anything. Because it’s actually a sign of supreme confidence. Because it will make your life easier not harder. We need support around us. None of us can function in a vacuum and being nice to people can win over strangers.
Grayson Perry’s words are written on a card above my desk. When I am my best, it is because I turned up on time, did the work and was nice to people.
Such brilliant advice.