Communication is a creative act. There is an art to communication, but remember that art is never purely creative. The greatest artists are guided by a blend of pure creative talent and studied, practiced craft. It takes a lot of hard work, research, practice and understanding to be flawlessly creative.
If you study the great artists in history, you will discover that all of them shared the ability to constantly hone and develop their own craft - they are often the most skilled craftspeople. People may try to deconstruct their creations in an attempt to learn the root of their artistic genius, but that genius was usually the result of years of effort and refinement of their work.
There are few shortcuts, and even the most gifted artists still put in their time. A scruffy band of working class musicians in the early 60s spent years practising their craft while playing eight-hour gigs, seven days a week, in the clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg. This was a time before DJs and jukeboxes displaced constant live music, and before the world learned about "Love Me Do." That kind of effort moves a creative team quickly towards Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers' status. Could The Beatles have existed without this great an investment in their craft? And, in the absence of paid work that allows musicians to perform for eight hours a day, every week, for years - will we ever see their level of artistry again?
Craft is something that takes time and effort to develop. In the last year of his life, Michelangelo said "I am still learning." He was always trying to improve his work, and he was often critical of his past work. He wasn't trying to be the greatest artist ever known - his goal was to be better than he was the day before. And, he valued patience and persistence - his statue 'David' took three years to complete. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took four years, and he had to create new theories about perspective while creating it to paint on an angled ceiling.
Patience, persistence and perseverance with craft are foundational to achieving great artistry. If communication is your gig, then practice the craft as frequently as possible. Always be learning, and don't shoot for the moon - just strive to be better today than you were yesterday.
