You are not just here to survive – but to thrive. Thus, your voice should be heard. For creatives, this presents unique challenges.
Artists tend to face different challenges than hobbyists.
The difference is that when you practice art as a hobby – writing, painting, sculpting, and so forth – there’s no pressure to share it or mold it for consumption on the part of anyone but you. When art is your vocation – new considerations come into play.
I know how the phrases “commercial viability”, “popular appeal”, “mainstream”, and the like – in consideration of your creativity – can be utterly frustrating. Your vision – when you put it up for sale – needs to have an appeal to be sold.
As a pantser – a writer who writes by the seat of their pants – this presents an interesting conundrum. While I can produce characters and situations with a flow like a fast-moving river – the plot develops slowly. For my Vapor Rogues and Void Incursion series, for example, the overarching plot didn’t become fully clear until I was a good way into the overall storytelling.
Arguably, Clouds of Authority and Opening Gambit (the respective first book in each aforementioned series) have a plot to them with little to no clarity. Cool for drawing the reader in – but less so for hooking them (at least in conventional wisdom).
This issue notwithstanding, I believe that I have stories to tell and share with the world. So, I work with and through these challenges because I believe my voice should be heard.
But this can be terrifying at the first passes.
Finding your voice
Even as a hobbyist, finding your voice in whatever medium you practice can be challenging.
I started writing a long time ago now. Then, when I finally decided to make the most of my writing and take it somewhere new – and make a career of it – I had three distinct voices I practiced.
Fiction writing. My first love was always fiction. Fantasy, sci-fi, Steampunk, and the like spark my imagination. This was (and is) the place I most desired to make a splash and share my voice with the world.
Nonfiction writing. I have a personal philosophy (Pathwalking) that I have been sharing for nearly 10 years. Tied to it are notions of conscious reality creation, mindfulness, positivity, and other life lessons and self-awareness issues. My voice here echoes some of where my fiction goes – but it’s a wholly different world.
Business/professional writing. I have done (and continue to do) content creation for others. I write blogs, webpages, brochures, class materials, and all sorts of other professional business works. This was the first place I made any money with my writing.
For me, my voice takes three distinct intonations and presentations. While there are common threads between them – they differ considerably. Though I struggled for a while with my overall brand and identity, I’ve largely found my voice and work to expand its reach and share it more.
Finding your voice takes time, patience, practice, and energy. Along the way, the obstacles and challenges you encounter can be distressing and disconcerting. As an artist, working on something others make a hobby of professionally stands against the stream of convention.
Then, I hate to add this, there’s another challenge when it comes to finding and sharing your voice.
Change is the only constant in the Universe
Change is inevitable. Sometimes it’s utterly subtle. Other times is blatant and in-your-face.
There is change wholly inside of your control. All of it centers around you and who you are, how you are, where you are, what you are, etc.
Some change is way outside of your control. Weather, idiot politics, losing jobs, getting dumped, and so on. But these are big-picture matters where control isn’t yours in the least.
The reason that I bring up change, however, is because your voice changes. This is literal – the voice you had as a child isn’t what your adult voice is like, and that changes over time (often very subtly), too.
Because of the inevitability of change, though, your voice changes. You grow and evolve – and so does your voice.
For example – when it comes to mindfulness, my focus used to just be thoughts, feelings, and actions. Then, on further examination, I added intentions. Now, after more discovery and changes in approach, I also include sensory input.
My old voice was not wrong in this case. Just less informed. Hence, now I add these aspects when I write about my philosophy – and my voice has changed.
Your voice as shared in your art – be it paint, words, food, clay, wood, or what-have-you – will change in time. This can be frustrating but also enlightening.
Change can solve a problem or uncertainty just as much as it can cause uncertainty. It also presents a choice – let it derail you or embrace it and do all in your power to control it.
Whatever you do with change or not – the world doesn’t deserve your voice any less.
The world deserves your voice
Every single human being on planet Earth contributes to the world in some form or other. Some do so consciously and by choice, others subconsciously. Hence, on the one hand, you get Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. On the other hand, you get the person who used a hairdryer in the shower, causing a warning label to be added to the product.
When it comes to sharing your art it’s all about choice. You are deciding to put yourself out there into the world and give it your story, vision, idea, or what-have-you. That, in turn, can feel like making yourself rather vulnerable.
Your creative product can feel like a child or some other extension of yourself. Hence, criticism of what you share can be disheartening. It’s easy to take it personally, too.
Sometimes sharing your voice feels like it has NO impact. Particularly if you’re not making any money doing it. Then, you get into the age-old argument of art for art’s sake, selling-out, and other silliness involving sharing your voice with the world and the why of it.
Do you have an idea, a skill, a vision, something you believe in that you desire to share with the world? Then the world deserves your voice. Loud or soft, all creativity grows the world and evolves us.
Without JRR Tolkien and his voice, you likely wouldn’t have George RR Martin. Without Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas and their voices, you likely wouldn’t have JJ Abrams or Luc Besson. Who knows, along this line, who you could become by sharing your voice – and an influencer of other voices down the line.
You are not just here to survive – but to thrive. Thus, your voice should be heard. It can be scary to share your voice – but when you overcome that fear, the world deserves your voice.
Put your art out there and be heard!
Thank you for being part of my ongoing journey, for joining me, and for inspiring me and my craft.
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