How Do You Know If It's Good?

And, what should you do if it isn't?

You, guys. This video is … weird. God bless the 80’s.

How Do You Know If It's Good?

I get asked this often.

And, when I do, the person usually looks at me with hope written all over their face, having been disappointed so many times before, thinking maybe this time someone will finally tell them the answer.

Honestly, I don’t know why this isn’t something covered in the first class people take in art school, or in creative writing programs, or anywhere that the goal is self-expression, because, at the end of the day, it’s all anyone really wants to know.

I remember it being all I wanted to know.

Hell, sometimes still, in my most insecure moments, the question will come back, like a ghost, haunting me.

But, is it good? How do I know if it’s good?

We want a formula. A calculator. Something we can feed our work into and it says, “Nice work. This is 87% good. Here are the problems that prevent it from being 100% good and how to fix them.”¹

Such a thing, thankfully, does not exist.

And, yet, as people putting our heart and soul and time, so much time, into something, we want to know.

Please just tell me. Is it good?

Well, guess what? There actually is an answer to that question and I’m going to tell you what it is. I’ll tell you how you know.

But promise to not get mad.