#urdoinitwrong

Oooo great angle. I like how you’re thinking! Survivor Bias is something we’ve been thinking a lot about here at DearAD as we work on some new educational projects at our Drawn + Drafted HQ. 

So, this is an unofficial survey, but I do a LOT of portfolio reviews and I can say that these things hold many many people back:

(technical)

—Does not use/understand visual hierarchy

—Don’t thumbnail out compositions in advance, or if they do it’s not in the defined shape they want the final to be, or they don’t think about the shape/size of the piece until they’re halfway thru and leave to much “filler”

—Trying to fit 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, er, composition

—Not enough contrast overall, in every way I can mean that

—Is a terrible judge of their own abilities/pieces/quality level/skill

(mental)

—Too busy explaining/arguing/defending your intent that you don’t consider feedback

—Don’t get enough feedback from varied sources

—Scared to try any big steps and experiment so they only improve by millimeters because they’re afraid to fail

—Don’t prioritize practicing their skills

—Spend too long on one piece, noodling

—Spending more time criticizing or envying others’ art rather than focusing on themselves and their own craft

—convincing themselves to give up before they try

—afraid of failure

—afraid of success

—too much self-doubt to promote their work properly

That’s just what comes to mind immediately, there’s more I’m sure, but those are the big ones. Nothing hurts me more than seeing an artist with all the tools and skills just not have either the perseverance or the self-reflection to keep moving forward. Everyone gets stuck sometimes, but those of us that “make it” aren’t surprised by difficulties, we expect them, and know pushing thru them is part of the process. 

Artists toss around the terms “break in” and “break though” all the time, but never stop to think about what those phrases actually mean. It means you’re going to have to struggle at some points. You can’t have a breakthrough…without a wall that you have to bang your head on for a while before you break though it. 

—Agent KillFee

YOU DID IT WRONG, SOLDIER.

An Engineering company in [redacted] is seeking a Technical Writing / Word Processor to provide support to the Technical Writing Department. Primary responsibilities for this role will include: Assembly, proofreading, and editing of technical reports and creating graphs from Excel spreadsheet data. This is a temporary-to-hire position that requires an individual with a positive attitude and strong work ethic, someone who is team-oriented and has an expert knowledge of MS Word and Excel. Requirements * Minimum of two years experience as a Technical Writer * Detail orientation, experience proofreading and editing technical documents and familiarity of Engineering terminology * Expert level MS Word skills and intermediate MS Excel proficiency * Ability to prioritize and manage work flow * Excellent verbal and writing communication skills and the ability to provide strong customer service to internal and external clients

This is an entry-level position. If you have an expert knowledge of Word and Excel, you are probably doing some other kind of temp job. If you are a writer, the prospect of never getting to write a word is dismaying. Also, if you are creating graphs from spreadsheet data, I almost guarantee you are working for more than one boss/executive, which is why you need the "ability to prioritize and manage work flow". You are going to have many masters, and you are not going to have any help sorting out who matters most.

On the other hand, I applaud the technical writers who have talked someone into letting them hire support staff to do all the tedious unrewarding parts of their jobs. I should have such a deal.