The Maker's Reflex

On being too easily inspired

When I’m enjoying something — and it could be a video game, it could be a book, it could be a product or service, it could be a keynote, a YouTube video, a podcast, a standup comedy act, a magic show — I am filled with the desire to make my own version of that thing, that would be as good or better, and that would create the sensation that I’m feeling but in other people.

I’ve started calling this the Maker’s Reflex.

And I’ve started to wonder how common it is. I can look back through my life and see its fingerprints everywhere, on major and minor notes:

I play ZORK in elementary school —> I start “AJES Software” (Andrew, Jason, Eric Smyth) to make text adventure games in QBASIC.

In middle school I read the Rogue Squadron series of Star Wars books —> I attempt to write a sequel to the books (it turns out the series wasn’t over, so my “sequel” is redundant).

In high school I watch Friends —> my friends and I write the pilot episode for a sitcom idea called City of Dreams (no, it never goes anywhere).

I read Kotaku and Joystiq in college —> I start Flicker Gaming, a video game blog, which leads to a job at the Escapist Magazine

I discover TED talks —> I co-found the Dent Conference, an ideas conference now hosted in Santa Fe, NM

I watch WarOwl videos on YouTube —> I start WatchSpade, a video game personality on YouTube and Twitch

I read Hyperon and I want to write Science fiction, I read The Cuckoos Calling and I want to write mystery, I read I Never Thought of it That Way and I want to write non-fiction…

Most people probably sit in the audience of a play they’re enjoying and think I am enjoying this. I’m a fan!

I’m the weirdo who sits in the audience and thinks, I can do that! I want to make a play!

The obvious benefit of this reaction is that it motivates me to create things that might not otherwise exist. But among the many challenges are a glut of ideas or projects that I am temporarily inspired to pursue, but not to complete. This is because unless I keep up the habit that inspired me in the first place, I become newly inspired by the next great experience I have.

So I have learned to control my inputs in order to influence my outputs. If I am working on writing a short story, for example — which I am — then I will keep up a steady stream of reading that inspires me to work on that short story.

For work, the inputs and outputs line up naturally. Dent offers me the flexibility each year to pursue the topics most interesting to me and seek those people to attend and speak at the conference. Luckily, as a VC, I get to invest in companies and entrepreneurs that inspire me, and I am inspired anew each time I catch up on the progress or prepare for a board meeting.

The Maker’s Reflex could feel like a curse. Like “shiny object syndrome” — a state of perpetual distraction that leaves you with dozens of half-finished projects and a nagging sense that you can’t stick with anything.

The trick is realizing that instead of needing the discipline to ignore inspiration, you need the wisdom to curate it. It is like the technique in jujitsu where you use your opponent’s momentum to complete your move: don’t fight the reflex, channel it!

This way, the Maker’s Reflex means I’ll never have a shortage of ideas or motivation. And with a little practice, I can get it to work for me instead of against me.