Youβre reading an excerpt of Creative Doing, by Herbert Lui. 75 practical techniques to unlock creative potential in your work, hobby, or next career. Purchase now for instant, lifetime access to the book.
One of the most fascinating properties of the creative process is, every version of a piece of work can be seen as preliminary work. While you can finish different versions and variations of a project, there doesnβt have to be a final sense of completion. Pablo Picasso said, βIf it were possible β¦ there would never be a βfinishedβ canvas but just different states of a single painting.β And hereβs W. H. Auden paraphrasing a line of Paul ValΓ©ryβs: βA poem is never finished, only abandoned.β
Dacoury Natche and his collaborators worked on the song βTimeβ on Childish Gambinoβs 3.15.20 album for nearly two years. Natche said there are multiple versions of the song, including one that sounds more like a party, and another that sounds more like a live version. He was willing to commit that time because the song held potential. He described his mindset: βLetβs just try as many versions as we can because I know this song feels like something special.β