“Do your magic,” say some of my writing clients.

In my avocation--acting and playwriting--directors talk about  “the magic of theatre.”

I wish it were magic.

Over the years, I've discovered many people, both writing  clients and theatre folk, who believe in magic.  To them, advance planning, regular meetings, and an overall vision of the production translate to hierarchical, autocratic, uncreative, and limiting. Not collaborative. Patriarchal.

Also a lot of work.

And you don't look cool. When you know what you want, people can see you as a little obsessive, a little dictatorial.  Not loose and creative.

Unprofessional

Many years ago, a colleague, irritated by another’s writing, called it “unprofessional" She used the term in the vague way that people say something is “inappropriate.”

In other words, she disliked both the person and their work, but didn’t want to say anything directly insulting. But I'm happy to insult anyone who believes that careful work means uncreative work.

Merriam Webster defines “professional” as: (1 characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace.

Tricky.  Conforming to technical standards while remaining unfailingly courteous can kill a project. A good collaboration is like a good marriage: if you disagree, you better get it right out in the open where you can look at it, or it will fester.

But too many creative people avoid the businesslike approach for fear it will mess up their mojo.

What's the answer?  Craft.

Craft

“Professional” means knowing, and practicing, your craft, even when it feels tedious and uncreative--or sweaty and inappropriate. Developing an overall plan after carefully considering your audience, reviewing past mistakes and triumphs so you can use them to create better work, methodically going through each step of the process, setting and meeting deadlines—where’s the magic? I mean, we're not making assembly line widgets here, we're making Art!

Ask anyone who makes a living by building things—tables, computer code, articles, quilts, plays—and they’ll tell you. If you work hard and well, sometimes the magic happens.

Magic is an elusive little bugger. Craft is how you sneak up on it.