As a writer I spend a lot of time hearing “write for your target audience” and “think about the reader” and while I think this is good advice in terms of polishing up your text, so you don’t publish garbled trash, it’s also a hindrance.
I saw a TikTok today where a man said he “used to think about you” (meaning the audience) and explained how it started to inhibit his creativity.
Because when you’re more focused on how the work/piece of content will be received, you’re not really focusing on the work.
In his case, he said he was currently still sitting alone in a room with a phone, talking to himself, because the audience – you – didn’t exist yet.
So, you as a creator, don’t benefit from thinking of this entirely fictional audience seeing the video.
And this resonated with me.
Look to the work, focus on the work. Forget the audience.
Because it’s not the people who pander to an audience that are interesting. It’s the people who’re out here living lives and doing stuff, then reporting back on how it all went.
This is easy to forget, because we’re social creatures.
We’re hardwired to care what other people think, how other people perceive us.
And while this is relevant and does apply in a more immediate way, when the cheap seats start having opinions, that’s not something you need to be listening to.
Take it from someone who’s done more research on it than I have (I’ve just lived as a sweaty creative for decades):
This is who I want to be. I want to create. I want to make things that didn’t exist before I touched them. I want to show up and be seen in my work and in my life, and if you’re going to show up and be seen there is only one guarantee, and that is you will get your ass kicked. That is the guarantee. That’s the only certainty you have. If you’re gonna go in the arena and spend any time in there whatsoever, especially if you’ve committed to creating in your life, you will get your ass kicked. So you have to decide at that moment, I think for all of us, if courage is a value that we hold, this is a consequence. You can’t avoid it.
— Brené Brown, Why Your Critics Aren’t The Ones Who Count
So, instead of thinking about the audience or listening to the cheap seats, follow the curiosity in you.
Follow that thing that’s drawing you towards something. Find the things you want to explore and explore those.
All the love, all the power,
Starsheep
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