Matt Gemmell’s latest slice of writing goodness, Makers and Takers:

An idea is the germ of something. Maybe it’s a painting, or a novel, or even a piece of software – but the idea without the execution is nothing. Indeed, having ideas is a natural state. Innovating is a natural occurrence. We’re faced with problems (existing, or entirely new), and we conceive of potential solutions. It’s how we deal with the world around us, and why we’ve reached this height of evolution.

But the ideas weren’t what mattered; it was the execution. The development of an idea (into a concept, or a prototype, or a finished piece of work) requires both skill and dedication. The real act of creation occurs after the idea state. Only in this act of creation can legitimacy be found. Real artists, as they say, ship.

One might argue that Gemmell’s piece is timely in wake of Lodsys being dicks and Apple smacking them down, but it’s more than that. Companies and creatives whining “we would have done that” (Hello, smartphone industry in your responses to Apple!) or “I had an idea that was vaguely related to that years ago, you bastards” (Hello, Microsoft and tablet PCs!), or, worse, “I vaguely came up with something similar, patented it, sat back and waited” (Hello, Lodsys! Lodsys? Can you hear me? Oh, your head is stuck in a gin bottle). And it happens more and more these days.

Gemmell is right. Shit or get off the pot. If you’ve an idea: run with it. Do something. Be fucking creative. Don’t hold back creativity. And certainly don’t just sit there or hide your great idea in a lawyer’s pants, until such a time that someone implements something similar and then try to sue them.