video killed the literary star?

On the train today I had an epiphany about how competitve reality TV (even as little of it as I watch) has done some damage to my creative process. Granted, in some ways I feel like I learned as much about craft from Project Runway as I did from my writing workshop (don't LAUGH, you BASTARDS). All those consults with Tim Gunn insisting that the product reflect a clear vision, that you edit carefully and translate the abstract to the concrete with as much transparency and clarity as possible- all of those ideas have come up again and again as I tentatively start to write in earnest again. Of course, the idea of visually conceptualizing a garment and then physically constructing it makes me nauseous with fear, but hey, fashion design and poetry are not so far from each other, as far as process goes.

But the idea that something beautiful and representative of artistic vision can be created in a day, in essentially a cramming session? This is a BIG problem, as my initial impulse is already to believe I can do something perfect the first time around, when really so much editing, tangents, revision, etc.. are required before I can emerge with anything I can call a complete work. To see it reinforced on PR, and occassionally on Top Chef and American Idol, is becoming detrimental. I have to remember that the ability to create an amuse-bouche or an evening dress on a dime is based on years of practice, of building technique through discipline, and ideas stewing for long periods of time that emerge when only when the artist needs them.