In this article, I speak about creating for an audience of one. That’s all you need to focus on to succeed creatively.
If you spend any time on social media of any kind, or any online forum, you realize one thing quickly enough. There are a lot of extremely talented, creative, and mind-blowingly original artists and people out there.
Seriously! There are so many crazy weird ways to be creative nowadays, that it makes my mind spin and boggle.
Okay, so there are a lot of talented people out there. What does this mean for the rest of us? That’s the real question, isn’t it?
That’s the main question that runs through my head. When I read someone else’s brilliant writing, that cuts my writing to pieces, I think to myself, ‘Now what?’
Now, what do I do? What is the next step here?
Do I sit down in my room, and cry myself to sleep, because my writing is not even close to good, when compared to so many talented writers out there? Or do I keep on writing, so that one day, maybe in the far off future, my writing will come up to par?
What Do We Do When We Believe We Are Just Average Creatives
When I compare myself to anyone else creative out there, my mind always leaps to the same conclusion.
“I’m absolute shit, and there’s no way I am ever going to compete on the world stage. Ever!”
Now, of course, I don’t put that face out in the world all the time, because I am creative, and I know I have a limited time on this planet. So even though I see so many talented people out there, who are much more talented than me at writing, I still keep on putting myself out there.
Why?
Everyone had to start somewhere. No one was a creative genius from the beginning. A lot of these individuals who are being lauded for their creativity right now were probably shamed for it when they were children.
Ed Sheeran, who is a brilliant creative musician at the moment, kind of highlighted this when he was speaking at a gala. He spoke about how when he was a child, he stuttered, and had big spectacles, and couldn’t hear very well in one ear. All in all, he was not one of the cool kids.
I’m sure he was bullied quite a lot in school. But that made him the weird one out, and he used this weirdness of his, to create music, and become a legend.
I bet you if you had told someone that Ed Sheeran, with his stutter, and glasses, and deafness in one ear, would be a superstar one day in the music industry, they wouldn’t have believed you.
Everyone Has To Start Somewhere But Then We Have To Go Somewhere Special
Okay, so everyone has to start somewhere. We all have to start somewhere (focusing on an audience of one is a good start).
When I write, even though I write prolifically, I know that I have a long, long way to go. I am not one of the best writers out there. I am not even close.
Oh, I am so far from being close.
But, I keep on writing, because I know that every time I write something, I am becoming better at it, and getting closer to my goal of becoming a great writer.
The truth of it is that the more humans there are on this planet, the more crowded the field gets. It isn’t enough for me to be a prolific great writer anymore.
It isn’t enough anymore. Because there are hundreds or thousands of other prolific great writers out there.
Every field is so overcrowded now! You have to do something edgy, something different, something special, to prove your distinction.
We Cannot Hide Anymore – Creating for an Audience of One
One of the problems with the school system today is that they are all trying to mould every single student into the same person. They want to make us all the same.
The more things we do to show them that we are like each other, the more they congratulate us and tell us that we are passing with flying colours.
But as soon as we leave the school system, and go into the real world, the opposite scenario holds. We have to start proving how different we are from each other, and the more different and unique we are from each other, the more we stand out.
It can be quite confusing, and a lot of people are unable to play the game properly.
My main thing as a child was to stand out as little as possible. I didn’t want to shine.
I hated being in the spotlight, and I wanted to hide whenever I was called upon.
It was scary to be unique. People looked at you and all I wanted to do was cower behind my classmates.
Nowadays, I am not much different. But I do realize that I cannot be the same anymore, especially if I want to keep on growing as a creative person. If I followed the same agenda with my writing now, I would write lots, but never share it with the world, because I would be too busy hiding in the corner.
No one is waiting to discover me. There is no one out there who will tell me that I am a great writer, and then work to bring my writing to the world.
I have to do it all myself. I have to become so good that the world cannot ignore me, as the comedian Steve Martin says.
No One Can Tell You How Your Uniqueness Can Shine
The one thing I have learned over time is that I cannot afford to blend in anymore. I just cannot.
Not only did I waste my entire teens and twenties hiding in the corner, and cowering. But I also spent a lot of that time hiding from my creative talents and creating nothing.
Such a waste of time, now that I think about it.
I’m 34, and I have a limited amount of time to create. Thus, my goal now is to create, create, create, and create some more.
I am all about quantity because I know quantity creates quality. That is the adage that I follow.
But I also know that there is no one else on this planet, no one else, who has the same combination of unique DNA, experiences, talents, skills, and interests as me. There is no one else on the planet who is the same as me. No one else is going to write the same as me.
Thus, it is my responsibility of mine to share as much of my writing with the world as possible. No one else can show me how to do that. I wish they could. I wish they did when I was much younger.
But they didn’t and they can’t. I have to do this all for myself. It is my responsibility and my role to do that. That’s the only way to go about it.
After All Is Said And Done, We Are Truly Creating for an Audience of One
The truth is even though I sometimes get all gung-ho and think, I want to be the greatest female writer that ever lived, I get the most pleasure from my writing when I am writing. Just writing.
I don’t have to be writing something great, or writing something ostentatious. I just have to write.
Writing is the act that turns me on. That is what matters to me.
I end up writing, thus, for an audience of one. For myself. Because that is what gives me the greatest pleasure.
I might have an edge, or I might not. But I am still creating only for an audience of one.
If I am not pleased with my writing, then really there is no point in creating or writing anything. There is no point in doing anything else at all.
The world keeps on going and the world keeps on writing. But that’s not what we care about.
We only care if we are writing or creating. That’s all that matters, truly in the end.
Everyone on the planet could be doing something, but that doesn’t matter a jot. The only thing that matters to me is whether I write my words every day or not.
I need to be writing. I want to be writing, every single day, like clockwork. That’s what keeps me happy.
Without it, I’m empty and lonely and forlorn. I am broken, and I cannot be mended. I need writing, like a bee needs honey.
People Stop Creating When Everyone Else Stops Listening
I think people forget that they are truly creating for themselves. My sister always messages me saying that she feels like something is missing in her life – she makes good money, and she lives in a beautiful apartment in downtown Toronto. She has a great life and still, she feels like something is missing.
I always ask her, “Did you write today?” And that’s when she hits that aha moment.
Oh yes! She always says. I didn’t write today. She goes off, does some writing, and then comes back saying, how happy she is again.
It’s as simple as that.
Writers need to write. Painters need to paint. And musicians need to music.
That’s all there is to it.
But, for some reason, we are told that if no one is listening to our stuff, or reading our stuff, then we need to stop writing or creating, because what is the point?
Well, if you keep on remembering that you are creating for a unique audience of one, then you will be able to create without any issues at all. And you won’t worry if your audience will watch your stuff or not, because that’s not the reason you are creating it.
That’s When Edge Creeps Into Your Work
I have noticed this time and time again in my creative world. I will be creating things for everyone else, and my work sucks when I do that. I don’t know what pleases others, but I pretend like I know, and it always ends up being shite.
Every single time, I do that, I end up getting frustrated, and getting back to my roots.
Creating for myself. I end up making something or writing something, that I want to read or watch.
I don’t care about anyone else. I don’t care if they like it or hate it. It’s about me.
Only about me.
And every single time, I do that, my work ends up being amazing, and weirdly enough, highly respected. For example, I started this YouTube channel for INFJs, for myself.
I thought to myself, I don’t want to get to 90 and not have a remnant of how my 33-year-old self thinks and looks and behaves. So, I decided to create a bunch of videos about myself, how I do things, how I look at the world, and more.
I did it for myself. I knew I would like it and that’s all that mattered. Nothing else.
I did it, and it is a bombastic success. Weirdly enough, the edge came because I created for an audience of one. The edge came because I didn’t focus on a huge audience, trying to please everyone.
I only chose to please myself, the audience of one. And because I pleased myself, I was able to please some other people as well.
The edge comes when you can get away from trying to please everyone. Remember that.
The Edge Will Come And Go – The Audience of One Keeps On Going
This project of mine with the videos is a success, and I will keep on going with it, of course. But I wasn’t pleased to just do that.
I started working on other creative projects. One of them is this website, and another is Facebook Live videos.
I am always trying new forums and new platforms. I like trying it all.
I love Podcasting, and Blogging, and Instagramming, and YouTubing. It’s all so much fun.
The whole point of this all is to keep on creating. Keep on creating. Forever and ever.
It isn’t about stopping ever. Don’t let any of your failures stop you ever.
I have failed on a lot of my creative projects. A lot of them. And the failures, they just keep on coming.
I am not done yet. I am never going to be done with my failures. Because I am not done with the successes.
I will keep on trying more and more creative avenues. I create because I need to create.
I write because I need to write. Not for anyone else.
But for my mental sanity. It is important to me. As important as breathing.
I need to do it. I have to do it. I am going to do it.
Until the end of time. Until the end of my time. Which creeps up closer and closer every single day.
I am already 34. I am already halfway through my life. So much time has already passed by. So little time is left behind.
I cannot wait any longer for outside accolades. I cannot wait for others to tell me it is time to create.
I am going to do it every single day. I have to.
Are you the same as me?
