"No one’s heard of a starving craftsman, just starving artists, and for a reason. Craftsmen create something people need. You’ve mastered a few important skills and moved up in the company. The important aspect here is that as you reach out to a greater community, you realize that there are plenty of people who are more skilled than you and who are still learning. Learn from them.

Gaining textbook skills or collecting certifications isn’t the point anymore; it’s applying all this knowledge in practical ways. Along the journey, you need to watch out for your best career interests and make sure that what you’re doing is what you want to do. For example, many get lost in promotions that lure them away from what they like doing, whether that’s programming or writing.

Finally, don’t underestimate perpetual learning. This is the key to the long road. Take time to practice, even if your job doesn’t seem to allow it. Learn new skills or apply existing skills in new ways. Along with practice comes failure, but don’t let that discourage you."

https://robertdelwood.medium.com/book-review-apprenticeship-patterns-guidance-for-the-aspiring-software-craftsman-808c95ee478e

#Craftsmanship #Craftsman #TechnicalWriting #SoftwareDevelopment #Programming #TechnicalCommunication

    • Umbrias@beehaw.org
      2·
      13 days ago

      People need art, do not fall for the trap that economically unprofitable things are unneeded things.

    • Alabaster_MangoEnglish
      2·
      13 days ago

      Got some numbers to back that up at all, or just gut feelings?

      It would also depend on your definition of “artist”. There is a lot of art going on in things like comics, movies, TV shows, video games, toys, board games, and so on. Writing can also be considered an art form, and not just the fancy stuff like poetry. What about musicians, are they artists? Acting is also an art form, and there are tons of those kicking about.

      I personally think it’s a pointless comparison over number of trades people vs number of career artists. We need both. Without trades we don’t have a place to live, and without art the place we live in sucks. I’m not as concerned as to which group is bigger. Like, there will be a natural balance somewhere depending on the wants/needs of the society at the time. Kinda like the whole deer vs wolves thing (I am not trying to imply that trades or artists are preying upon one another).

      • Miguel Afonso Caetano@tldr.nettime.orgOP
        1·
        13 days ago

        @[email protected] I think what the author wants to state - and I agree with - is that it’s way more difficult to earn a living as an artist than as an craftsman. Unfortunately, that is a fact. It’s extremely difficult to survive as an artist. And only the real talented ones can gather a high enough number of fans to sustain their work.

        • Alabaster_MangoEnglish
          1·
          13 days ago

          My problem is the “way higher” bit without anything other than “trust me bro” to back it up. I do not disagree that being an artist can be financially difficult, but such an absurd statement should come with some data to back it up I think. You’re also claiming it’s a fact. Got anything to back that up?

          I find the argument absurd for two reasons:

          1. There are millions of employed artists in the US. This number doesn’t mean much without knowing the total number of artists trying to get work. If we look at unemployment rates, artists were sitting around 3.9% in 2022 and construction was between 3.4% and 7.1% in 2022. Pretty close if you ask me.

          2. Without disclaimers, it almost implies getting and keeping a trades job is easy. The various trades industries can be volatile as heck, and tools are expensive. Tradies have their own difficulties they have to overcome.

          Edit for transparency:

          Using the numbers from the construction link, we can math out that there were about 9.3 million employed construction workers in 2022 compared to the 2.67 million artists.

          If you’re just looking for raw numbers then this could constitute as “way more”. I don’t think it’s a fair comparison however. See my above comment re: wolves and deer. If you compare the total number of nuclear physicists to the total number of garbage men, then it looks like trying to be a nuclear physicist is a bad move (absolutely nothing wrong with garbage collection as a career).

          The ebb and flow of things kinda regulates how many people are “allowed” (for lack of a better word) to be employed in an industry. I think a much better and more fair comparison is the unemployment rate.