Show the Unfinished

Work kept in the drawer is not unfinished out of laziness: as long as nobody has seen it, it might still turn out to be brilliant. Showing it takes that possibility away and gives you a real one instead.

Find what you make for yourself and have shown nobody: writing, music, drawings, code, sketches, a business plan, songs, poems. Pick three people — one close, one acquaintance, and one who knows the field. Send it as it is: no cleanup, no reworking for display, no preface about it being a draft and nothing really. The only accompaniment is one line: I make this, I want you to look. Do not ask for praise and do not ask for advice, just send it to all three today.

Usually two reply politely and briefly, and the third says something you could not see yourself — the third is the reason for all of this. There may also be silence: that is not a verdict on the work, it is information about who to show it to next. If you sent it to only one, count it half done and add the other two tomorrow, before it cools.