Questions I’m asking myself to close out 2023
After watching a YouTube video with Ali Abdaal interviewing Colin and Samir, something was said by Samir that made me ask myself the following question:
It’s a 2.5hr interview. If you have the time, I recommend watching it from beginning to end. if you don’t, read on to see what pieces I extracted and wanted to flesh out a bit more as I apply it to my own writing journey.
A “creator” is empathetic towards the audience. An “artist” as no empathy towards the audience. An artist paints something and says “this is what I wanted to paint, I don’t care what you like about it, you can interpret it however you like.”
There’s a balance between what you want to make, what the audience wants, and what the platform wants. And right in the middle of that is “content market fit.”
When I heard that I immediately had to ask myself if I was an artist or a creator. If I’m being honest I feel more of an artist. I am putting out content I want to write and not stopping to consider if any of what I write is what you, the subscriber, wants to read. And if that statement I just said is true, do I want to continue down the path of being an artist or do I want to pivot and give being a creator a try? Again, speaking frankly, I don’t think I do. I think I like where I am.
There is a certain level of fear and doubt that comes with wanting to be empathetic to an audience. If I don’t write what I feel you want to read then I am frozen in fear and writing nothing. Or if i do push something out and don’t get the reaction or fanfare I was hoping for, then I’m terrified about the possible silence or negative reception of the next thing I write.
I don’t see being a creator sustaining me enough to continue producing content for a long time let alone the rest of this year. And I wonder if this can be a truth for other writers that we just aren’t able to face or understand. How many of us are really “artists,” angry that our work isn’t being read and loved by everyone, thereby converting free readers into paid subscribers. The issue is not with our readers, it’s with our lack of empathy for them. And now that I know this, and freely admit this, I actually feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I am writing for me and my hope is that you will enjoy it. And because I’m writing for me, I hold no animosity towards the fact that I have a handful of paid subscribers, that I have yet to see any free subscriber growth, or that I don’t receive the same level of support that other writers receive.
When I think about the other writers who do get recognized, get supported, and get showered with constant adoration from all levels, I realize they are creators. They are clearly empathetic to their audience. And empathy deserves reward.
Does that mean that artists who create for themselves don’t deserve acolades and rewards as well? On the contrary! Of course we do. But we shouldn’t get beside ourselves when someone else gets it over us.
I realize this is probably going to be a hot take to many who will disagree vehemently with my thoughts. Please understand I’m merely thinking out loud about my own circumstances and view of my journey. You may not see yourself or your journey in quite the same way.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an artist or a creator. Just like being a pantser doesn’t make you better or smarter than plotters. They are simply choices and just like any choice, they are interchangeable. And you know what else? There are plenty of examples of successful artists and creators just like there are plenty of failures with pantsers and plotters. This is not about saying what’s right and wrong. But about the choices we make.
Something else I wanted to spend a little time analyzing or sharing was what Ali mentioned about the three levels of a creative person:
Level One – Get going
Don’t think about or over analyze what you want to create and share. Just do it. Too many times we over analyze and end up never sharing what we just created.
Level Two – Get good
Now that you’ve gotten into a rhythm with sharing what you’ve created over a lengthy period of time, consistently, it’s time to tweak and improve. Sure, what you shared in the beginning wasn’t your best work. But like anything you put hard work and effort into, you’ll eventually get better over time.
Level Three – Get smart
Improvement isn’t the end goal. There is still further we can go. The best phase is to now get smart about what you’re creating so you can create more and expand.
What level are you on right now in your journey?
I would say I’m in the “get smart” level. I’m doing things like scheduling posts and creating templates several months in advance. This allows me to spend more time writing and thinking about new story ideas rather than spending time putting together my emails daily.
I think I’m in Level Two – Get Good! I’ve found a consistent publishing rhythm here and am tweaking to see what works. I also like how artist and creator are defined here.
How about a category of craftsman. I like writing. I love the process of it and I find joy in solving the small and catastrophic problems that come up during the process. When I’m done, I like to push it out in the world, so I can start on the next one and apply my learnings. The work and the process drive me, but sharing it is part of the process of closure to me.
What an interesting distinction you point out here! I, too, am an artist rather than a creator. If I worry about what people want from me, I’m plunged back into people pleasing, poor boundaries, and perfectionism, all of which I’ve spent a lifetime escaping from. My problem is not lack of empathy, but too much of it. Writing is the place where I please myself and let the rest go. It’s not so much about accolade and reward as it is the challenge of being the best writer I can be, according to my definition of “best writer,” not someone else’s. I think I’m at the get smart level. Thanks for this — it really made me think & refined some of my goals.
This is an interesting article for me. While I enjoyed reading your personal insights and found them engaging and thought provoking, I can’t help but heavily disagree with the dichotomy Ali presents. The idea that a creator is empathetic to the audience while an artist isn’t sounds absurd to me, thanks in no small part to the perspective I’ve developed as someone who’s involved in comics as well as narrative fiction. When I look at my friends and acquaintances who are illustrators, painters, and yes writers as well, and they offer their services for commission – thereby showing said “empathy” by creating works that members of their audiences are specifically asking and paying for them to create – does that mean they’re no longer artists? Of course not. They still create works for themselves, just as those of us who write for our audiences often also write for ourselves. The choice to play to an audience, no matter how frequently, doesn’t change this fact.
I think the immediate disconnect I have with what Ali proposes is the inherent idea that a dichotomy needs to exist here at all. Not every content creator is an artist, but every artist is a content creator, even if what they’re creating is ultimately made for and only ever viewed by themselves. Artists are still creating things, still putting them out for the world to see, whether or not said world is as large as a broad segment of the general audience or as small as me, myself, and I. To claim otherwise, and especially to shape said claim over the idea of empathy to one’s audience, really just feels like a semantic game of hair splitting to me and I can’t help but question the value of that.
Thank you for writing this article, Erica. It made for a great read that was just the boost I needed this morning.
Thank you for this. I think you’re spot on. I’m an artist, trust me. The stuff I put together is not about you. LOL. I use the quote “it’s not about you” all the time in my writing and it’s the approach I take in music as well. Enjoyed this post very much. Objectively, as in regarding the totality of my experience thus far, I’m at level three, but in terms of figuring out Substack, It’s level one.
As MBTS notes, it may be a bit harsh to make a thick line of demarcation between artist and creator. There is an overlap. I named my platform Temple of Artists because I write what I myself am interested in, and I offer the ideas to other artists because they relate to the artistic process.
Erica’s point is valid though. Either you’re writing mainly for yourself, or you’re writing mainly for others.
I do feel, however, that in striving to clarify my ideas to myself, my audience benefits. And I would imagine that even when one writes content designed for others, one still wishes to derive some personal satisfaction from it.
I think you should do what matters to you and not worry about a label. There’s a fear of failure that hits us all and we want to be acknowledged in some way for the efforts we put forth, regardless if we classify ourselves as an artist or a creator.
Whether you’re an artist or a creator you want to make an impact with what you create, but we shouldn’t have an expectation of feedback in one way or another, although it’s very hard not to.
I think you are right in that creators, in the sense we’re talking about, are trying to create content that they hope can improve someone’s life in some way, and hope they receive some form of exchange, whether that’s financial or something else.
Artists on the other hand are creating something that they hope can change the way people think or change the world in some way through their art.
Thanks for this article, you do highlight a point on those writers who gain more subs, faster, seem to have a knack for engaging their audience. Whether the writing is or is not written with them in mind is unclear but the writer certainly makes it seem that it is for the audience and not themselves. At some point I don’t think the artist or audience know anymore. They like what you’re doing, you like what you’re doing, so it seems like you’re creating for the audience but really the audience is still you but now plus those with similar tastes.
The dichotomy of ‘creator’ or ‘artist’ isn’t accurate. When JMW Turner smudged red paint on his sea scape, Helvoetsluys, later turning it into a buoy, as it hung for the Summer Exhibition of 1832 next to Constable’s The Opening of Waterloo Bridge, he did it so he wouldn’t be upstaged by his principle rival. Turner did it in the gallery with the audience in mind. Turner was an artist through and through and part of being an artist is being aware of the audience, whether it’s an audience of one (yourself) or millions and everything in between. Now the question of whether ‘content creators’ make art, that’s spicy.
You can read about, and see, the Turner and Constable paintings here: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/turner-constable-and-the-royal-academy
“…you can interpret it however you like.” I take umbrage with this part of the quote. It’s untrue, you cannot interpret art however you like. That’s not how art works. With writing the meaning is quite clear, it’s in the words and the interplay between them, style may be dense or stories be contradictory but that allows for discussion not endless interpretation. If a reader thinks they can re-interpret endlessly then I guess words have no meaning. With painting it’s much the same, the placement of objects, people, landscape, the choice of colours, shading, etc all play a part in the message being conveyed. Even a pleasant landscape is telling you something while it’s being pretty.