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1/ I keep coming across anecdotes that suggest the threshold for how many works constitutes a “body of work” is about 200
2/ First noticed it when I published 200th blog post a few months ago. It’s an arbitrary number but it’s felt qualitatively different, like virtually every topic I care to think about is now addressed in some way. New posts feel like extensions of those
3/ Then watching a documentary on Basquiat he really took off after he’d made about 180 full scale paintings
4/ Then I talked to a well-known wedding photographer and he said he’s done about 200 weddings
5/ Lastly, talked to a successful Youtuber and he considered his 180 videos his body of work
6/ Anyone else know other examples or evidence of such a threshold, anecdotal or not?
7/ There are many counter-examples of course. Architect Louis Kahn only seems to have built about 50 buildings, and is 20th century’s most influential architect. But buildings are big and may be different
8/ But I think it’s fair to say that success in a given creative field requires going through an inflection point in which you become prolific. Difficult to attain 200 anything without it. But hitting 200 doesn’t guarantee success of course
