Valley of the Muse

Establishing Yourself as an Expert

Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 first

In the corporate world and in academia, your work experience and expertise depends on other people.

For example, I’m a pretty decent project manager. I’m detail-oriented and goal-oriented, and I’m good at keeping my team on track to get the project done. The big money is in IT project management, but there’s no way that I’ll ever get a job as an IT PM. Why? Because my experience is in the training industry and in operations. It doesn’t matter that I have a diploma in computer programming. It doesn’t matter that I’m tech savvy or that I can speak to coders and translate to the business. It doesn’t even matter that I’ve worked on projects involving software, such as building a wiki for a large department. To a recruiter and to a hiring manager I’m too much of a risk because I’ve never worked in IT.

For an artist, a portfolio is equivalent to job experience and a resume, and you don’t need to rely on others to build it up.

What it does require is your time and your attention. You can add school projects to your portfolio. You can imagine that you’re decorating a room for a client, even if it’s just for you, and treat it like a professional job. You can commit to writing a short story a month and submit it to various e-zines. When you’re first starting out, no one is expecting you to have landed a million-dollar commission or that you’ve already had a hard-cover series printed. But by having a body of work to back up your effort, you’re able to show what you’re capable of, which will help you land paid work.

The benefit of working for yourself in a creative industry is that you won’t be held back from working on projects that interest you because of politics, seniority, etc. You and you alone are responsible for putting together your portfolio. I’ve already posted about the “bucket principle” and referenced it a number of times, partly because I’m trying to internalize it myself, but mostly because the people who are successful are the ones who’ve worked on their portfolios over time rather than the night before meeting with their first prospective client. By building up your creative platform over time, you (i) develop strong habits of productivity, (ii) are able to get a good feel for your strengths and weaknesses, and (iii) are able to put forward examples of your best work. All three of these things will help carry you forward towards a sustainable creative career and personal success.

Stay tuned for Part 5 in this series, where I’ll examine networking.

This is one of my rush bentos, where the main is a frozen meal. I like this brand because it’s tasty, it isn’t loaded with additives, and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

Bento #6:

• Top tier: mango, mini Oreo cookies, Baby Bell cheese, pita chips
• Bottom tier: pasta with shrimp, asparagus and cherry tomatoes in a white wine sauce

Word Count: 100
Prompt: August 2009 – #1 – Steam Powered

Gathering her skirts, Diana rushed through the front door of the Manor towards the stables. Leaning against the stable wall, a rusted contraption resembling a wagon marred the otherwise perfectly manicured countryside.

“There she is!”

Diana’s pursuers were gaining quickly, but she ran faster, not daring to look back.

She hoped the capsule clutched in her hand would work. “Portable Steam” father had called it. Wrenching open the boiler at the base of the wagon, she threw it in, then pressed the buttons and pulled levers as she had been taught.

The wagon spread its wings and she was off.

The prompt for September 2009 is licorice.

Previous prompts can be found here.

If you’d like to share your story, art, photography, craft, etc., based on this prompt, email me at miriam@valleyofthemuse.com and I’ll link to your creation.

While waiting for the bus yesterday, a guy in a minivan honked at me. I always wonder what the men who do this are trying to accomplish. Is it just the attention? Is it a remote hope that I’ll decide to hop in their car despite the fact that they’re travelling 50 km/hr in a school zone?

It always strikes me as a waste that people engage in attention-seeking behaviour that doesn’t lead to anything other than a moment of instant gratification. I understand the desire – it’s something I’ve always struggled with, but I know that if I want to be successful, then I need to learn new behaviours and see the benefit in waiting.

Here’s a personal example of what I mean. When I first started writing again (after a 5-year hiatus in my early twenties), I quickly filled 3 notebooks with story ideas. It felt good getting them all out of my head. It felt productive. But none of those are real stories because I didn’t have the patience or follow-through to complete any of them. My muse was always taking me in a new direction and it was fun imagining all the possibilities.

Since those early days, my goals have changed. It’s no longer about seeing where a story will end up, but instead my goal is to be published. There are a million reasons why I may never achieve my goals including the quality of my writing, luck, timing, etc. I’m ok with the fact that I may never see my name on the cover of a printed novel if there are legitimate reasons. But if it’s because I lacked focus? Or because I was distracted by a new video game?

This brings me back to the man who honked at me today. Sure, it may not take more than a second to press on the car horn. There may not even be a decision involved and the man may have just acted on impulse. But if I lead my life based on instant gratification, I won’t achieve my goals, and I’m no longer ok with that. Are you?

—

EDIT: I came across a blog post today about Elizabeth Gilbert’s incredibly inspiring speech (which I originally posted here).  The post describes how much work she put into appearing so relaxed and casual – well worth it! Read the entry “Sprezzatura” by Derek Sivers here.

Read Building a Creative Platform – Part 1 and Part 2

Building an online presence

This past weekend I went to Fan Expo. My favourite part of this con is walking through Artists’ Alley and being surrounded by creativity and talent.

I’m in the process of creating a “geeky and creative” post, profiling the different people I met, but as I’ve been visiting everyone’s websites and etsy stores, I was struck by how different everyone’s online presence is, ranging from nonexistent to professional.

If you’re just starting out, it isn’t necessary to have a flash website that is professionally made, but there are a few things you can easily do.

1. Build a web presence

Others have written about this before, but it’s really easy to create a free blog on any number of journaling sites (wordpress, blogger, livejournal, dreamwidth), even if you’re not very tech savvy. Get in the habit of posting your work on a regular basis (even if it’s just monthly to start), and slowly increase the frequency to at least weekly.

If you’re handing out business cards of your work at a con, you need a website. I saw so many different artists and artisans, and I honestly can’t remember who is who. I need a visual reminder of your work, otherwise I won’t know why I took your card at the time and why I would want to follow up. If all you’ve provided is an email address, I’m going to recycle your card. This may seem unduly harsh, but I’m not likely to email you just to ask “what was it you were doing again?”.

2. Mention the con you just attended.

You don’t need to do a fancy write-up. All you need to do is mention somewhere on your site or etsy store that you’re in Toronto for Fan Expo for the weekend. I’ve noticed that the artists who took the time to update their readers, are the ones that generally have more content up on their sites. Even if you’re just starting out, it’s nice to give people context for what you’re doing. Artists were running out of business cards on the first day of a two-day con, which means that at least some of the people attending will visit your website. Tell us what you’re up to or that you’ll have new merchandise up after premiering it at the con. I’m pretty sure at least one person had a lot more items at their booth than show up at their etsy store, and I wasn’t that impressed with their current online selection. By giving an update (even just one line) you’ve given me a reason to check back.

I can already hear the protests of “but the product itself should be enough of a reason to go back”. Well, yes and no.
If you’ve spent any time on free online fiction websites, you’ll find that most of the writers who post stories will have a multi-chaptered work in progress. 80-90% of those never get finished, so I’ve become wary of those who don’t give me a reason to check back. Every artist has good intentions, but not everyone can follow-through with what they’ve started. If your website doesn’t seem like it’s updated frequently, then I’m going to assume that it isn’t. I’d rather spend my time on someone who provides steady content than on someone who has great ideas but they never make down on paper or online.

I actually find it a bit heartbreaking when I’m working with a client who has so many fantastic ideas, but there’s never any evidence of it, other than the conversation we’re having. I feel privileged that I can listen to a story unfold, but it’s a shame that others can’t share in this experience as well. At Fan Expo, there was so much talent, and with Valley of the Muse I’d love to showcase everyone that I talked to and give examples of how awesome they are. But if they don’t have an online presence, then I can’t do that, because I have nothing to link to, and I doubt anyone would listen to me if I said “trust me they’re fantastic!” without saying why.

If you’re starting out, you need to take that first step before you and your work can be discovered and that means don’t just work on your portfolio in the dark corners of your room until you’re ready to unveil your epic. Build relationships with people who are going to be excited for you and supportive of all your endeavors, even the earliest ones.