The iceberg illusion
We only see the end result of creative work - so we tend to underestimate the time, effort and persistence required to get there.
Most ‘overnight’ successes actually took many years and a lot of hard work, persistence, sacrifice and failure. But, because we only see the end result, it’s easy to think that success is easy, or should arrive quickly. This is the ‘iceberg illusion’.
When did you last read a book, watch a film, listen to an album or admire an artwork? What you saw, watched, heard or saw was the end result of a creative process. It’s all we see as consumers of art. Creative success is the visible tip of the iceberg. We only see the breakthrough – not the years of hard work to get there.
In the film world, for example, it’s generally reckoned that the average length of time from script to screen is 10 years (if your script even gets produced). But all people see (eventually) is the film. Success is the visible end product. Work is the unseen process.
We tend only to see the benefits of success – and underestimate the costs. As Lydia Grant says in 1980s cult classic TV show Fame: “You’ve got big dreams, you want fame. Well fame costs, and right here’s where you start paying. In sweat.”
The myth of overnight success
Have you ever heard someone say that ‘overnight success’ takes about 10 years? Or more? This is something that bestselling self-published author Nicola May is the first to admit. Her chart-topping bestseller, The Cornershop in Cockleberry Bay (2018) was her 9th book - and the one that finally enabled her to quit her job and write full time (and she’s since had many more hits).
Actor Adrien Brody said: “My dad told me, ‘It takes fifteen years to be an overnight success’, and it took me seventeen and a half years.” Performance poet John Cooper Clarke said: “It took me 30 years for people to consider me an overnight success.”
“It took me 30 years for people to consider me an overnight success.”
- John Cooper Clarke
Now, this doesn’t mean becoming an author has to be a miserable, hard slog – you’re allowed to enjoy the process. Nor does it necessarily mean you’ll have to wait 30 years! If you’re self-published you can, in theory, write and publish a book in the same year – like Nicola May. But most of us underestimate the amount of work and commitment required to do that.
Along the way, it’s important to remember that the creative process is also worthwhile in itself – because it’s how you’ll learn, develop and get better at your craft. But it’s a process that most people don’t see. One that involves work, persistence and not giving up too soon. And it doesn’t happen overnight.
What lies below the surface of success
What we don’t see is the time, effort, persistence and failures it takes to get there: the lower part of the iceberg. So let’s dive below the waterline and take a look at the biggest, invisible part of the creative iceberg:
Persistence. If you want to be an author, you’ll need to stick with it for the long haul, and not give up too soon. Even when the going gets tough.
Failure. You will experience failure along the way. Your first draft will probably be terrible. You probably won’t land an agent with your first query letter. That’s OK, that’s normal, that’s part of the process. Keep going.
Sacrifice. What will you give up in order to write? A night out with friends? Watching TV? Your lunch breaks? Every other weekend?
Good habits. Writing some words every day will build into a whole book. If you write just 200 words a day, every day, you’ll have a novel in a year.
Hard work. Writing is hard. Even if you love writing, there will always be moments of frustration and feeling stuck, and temptations to do something easier instead. Push through, do the work – and reward yourself afterwards.
Dedication. Writing is a vocation. A commitment. It’s not exactly a sensible, secure job. Other people will try to put you off, be unsupportive, or simply not understand. So you need to be dedicated to it to see the fruits of your creative labour.
Disappointment. knock-backs, criticism, rejection and disappointment come with the territory, I’m afraid. You need to get comfortable with it, not take things personally, learn from the experience and move on. Not everyone will love your work. That’s OK.
Why we underestimate the effort needed for success
Why, then, do we focus only on visible, end-product success - and underestimate the work that goes into getting there? The following three reasons are important:
We can only see the tip of the iceberg. By definition, we only see the end result of someone else’s creative work: the tip of the iceberg. So this affects how we view the work of others. We’re not making a fair comparison between what we expect of ourselves and what we think other people have accomplished.
The planning fallacy. A concept that psychologists call the planning fallacy was first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979. This affects how we view our own work. It’s a form of cognitive bias where we tend to be over-optimistic about the time needed to complete a task or project.
The myth of overnight success. Finally, the ‘overnight success’ story is a pervasive narrative in our culture. But it’s just that: a story, a narrative, a myth. Or, at least, so statistically rare that you’d stand more chance of winning the lottery.
What iceberg thinking means for your mindset
If you think success is easy and ‘overnight’ for other people, but struggle to make a breakthrough with creative work yourself, you may become despondent, resentful, or believe that you just don’t have the talent or ability. This is especially true if you have a fixed mindset.
However, if you can recognize the truth, that there’s no such thing as an overnight success, that even the most successful, bestselling authors struggled to get there – and probably had a lot of failures along the way – you’ll be more likely to persist, stick with it, turn up and do the work. It helps if you have, or can cultivate, a growth mindset. The underwater part of the iceberg is all about the growth you need to break through the surface.
Enjoy the process
The pursuit of success is, in part, the pursuit of happiness. But, in your pursuit of happiness, don’t overlook what author and happiness researcher Meik Wiking calls the happiness of pursuit. Pursuing your goal of writing and publishing a book can create happiness in the doing as well as in the completion of it. Enjoy the moment, rather than focusing purely on the end goal. Success can be defined by the process as well as the result. Maya Angelou said: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
- Maya Angelou
Give yourself time and space to create. As The Supremes once sang, you can’t hurry love. You also can’t hurry success. You’ll get there in your own time – and you’ll learn, develop, create, meet people and have fun along the way. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination - and your success will be sweeter.