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.

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.

In Part 1, I introduced the benefits of building a creative platform for new and emerging artists*.

One common attitude from new artists who are struggling with productivity is the belief that they need to produce an epic piece. They have a ton of ideas and dreams of one day leaving their day job to make money off of their creations. Sometimes, this belief can arise because of job loss, staycations, nanowrimo, etc., where there is an urgent pressure to create something right now.

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t really work, and the emerging artist feels discouraged. The reality of how much can be accomplished in a day can make it seem like their dreams will never come true, and they go back to longing for a creative outlet without ever doing much more. I think this is a shame, because there is so much creativity that could be shared with the world but isn’t, all because of a mistaken impression of creative output.

Whenever I’m tempted to think like this, I always remind myself of a visualization exercise I discovered on a financial blog. The exercise is meant to encourage people to save money, but I think can be applied to any activity.

Picture a leaking tap. If you place a bucket underneath it, eventually the bucket will fill up with water. It might be faster to fill up the bucket with a tap that’s spraying water everywhere, but being covered with water while trying to mop up the floor and counters is an unpleasant experience most of us don’t want to repeat. This analogy can be applied to creative projects, where the spraying water is your attempt to cram a novel into a week’s vacation (or a weekend) by staying up late and pushing yourself until you’re done. Even if you end up with a decent product, you’re unlikely to try it again, because of how difficult it was and how miserable you were after you were finished. If you’re going from zero output but are now serious about bringing your art to a more professional level, then you’re much better off using the first method. Maybe that means writing flashfiction every week or month, or taking the time to go for a walk every Sunday and taking photos of the things you come across. If you’re knitting, limit yourself to one or two rows a day, or if you’re a bassist and want to start performing again, schedule 30 minutes every few  days to play along with your favourite songs.

Once you get into the habit of creating, you’ll find that you’ll build up a portfolio without even noticing. And when you have an opportunity to talk to others about your projects, you’ll have concrete examples of your work, rather than just saying “well, I have this idea for a story that I’ve been thinking about for years.” You’ll be taken more seriously, and the more you create, the more opportunities you will have for paid work.

Even more importantly, on days when you’re second-guessing your own talent, you’ll be able to prove to yourself that you’re capable, because you’ll have a body of work to rest on.

—
*I’m going to use the term artist to refer to anyone creative, including (but not limited to) writers, photographers, crafters, painters, actors, musicians, etc.

Continue to Part 3

Most people who achieve a modicum of creative success have spent time and effort on a foundation of work. Once they reach star status, it can easily appear to the average consumer of books and movies that the person came out of nowhere. I have coaching clients and friends who dream about that one moment where someone will uncover their brilliance and the whole world will bestow upon them riches and fame. We’ve all read stories of someone down on their luck who was discovered while walking down the street and now they’re a Hollywood star. If you want to rely on this method of success, then you’d better make sure you look perfect every moment of your life, buy lottery tickets each week, and settle in for a long life of dreaming. But if instead you feel a burning desire to create something, stop rewriting your Oscar acceptance speech and start building your creative platform.

Shortly after discovering online fiction archives, I posted my very first short story. I received some lovely comments, but it wasn’t the smash hit I had hoped it would be. Nobody knew who I was, and although the story was decent, it wasn’t blow-you-out-of-the-water-fantastic. This kind of experience is shared by many new authors, and I began to notice the people who had the most success had worked on building up a creative platform. What this means is that the more creative work you produce, the more people are going to have access to your work and are going to be supportive of future projects. It also means that you’re going to have more practise and experience, and ultimately, will have a more professional end result.

Building a platform is going to take time, but unlike dreaming about the day your career will take off, it will have a direct impact on your life and will help you achieve your dreams.

In part 2, I’ll post some concrete techniques for internalizing this concept and give you the push you need to stop dreaming and start creating.

Continue to Part 2