I could see Kelsey’s lips moving but the words were on mute.

I turned off the vacuum and took out my headphones. “Sorry,” I said. “What did you say?”

Kels smiled. “Sorry,” she said. “What are you listening to?” 

Lately, I’ve been enjoying a podcast called SmartLess with Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes and Will Arnett. It can be thoughtful and funny, entertaining. I put it on randomly to pass the time: in the car or while cooking or while cleaning. 

“That Jason Bateman podcast,” I said. 

“Oh,” she said, “who’s the guest?”

There’s usually a guest, usually a comedian, someone funny. 

“David Spade,” I said. 

The foursome was discussing Saturday Night Live, where Spade was a cast member from 1990 to 1996. Before I paused the podcast, Will Arnett was pointing out how fans of the show pine for “the old SNL” while denouncing the newer seasons. 

“People say they don’t like SNL anymore,” said Arnett. “They say they liked it ‘back when’ — and that’s, like, the most common thing you hear from people… and I just call such bullshit on it.” 

“Yeah,” Spade agreed. 

“Because the very nature of a sketch show,” said Arnett, “is it’s never gonna be one hundred precent perfect,” he said. “You know, if you get one or two good sketches a show, that’s a great show.”

“And that’s every show, really,” said Spade. 

“And that’s the only part that you remember,” said Bateman, “so all these seasons are much better in the rearview mirror because you’re only thinking about the good stuff.”

Every week: 

SNL writers prepare between forty and fifty sketches, but only about eight make it into the episode — and according to people who know, if a quarter of those sketches land, “that’s a great show.”

It seems extraordinary that so many talented people invest so much time and effort and passion to produce work that, mostly, fails. It seems extraordinary, but it’s not. It’s typical. The odds of creative success are remarkably low. Even if you're the best in the world at what you do, you’re bound to fail so much more than you succeed. 

This is the nature of creative work: 

It very often will not land. 

So anticipate this, expect it. Remind yourself that quality almost exclusively comes from quantity. Welcome this notion.

Welcome it — and failure will never again stifle your progress or process.

It will just be. And you will keep going. 

“David Spade?” Kelsey said. 

“What’s he talking about?”

“Saturday Night Live,” I said.

“Old SNL?” she said. “The good years?”

I locked the vacuum upright. “So actually,” I put my headphones in my pocket, “about that…”

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