You’re working on a project – could be a piece of visual artistry, prose, or a musical composition. You think it’s fantastic, your best. OR you think something’s wrong with it, your not-so-great. What do you do next? Show your mom? Explain it to your best friend? Ask the barista their opinion?
Uh oh! Looks like you need a creative group. I say that only to the commercial artists. Those identifying themselves as fine artists are apparently beyond criticism. The point of joining a creative group is for objective and constructive feedback to better your reception to a general audience. This can be applied to fine art, but as I said, if you don’t like what you hear, you could easily say “You just don’t get it.” Saying that in the world of commercial art is laughable – it’s tantamount to saying “I don’t care if no one sees my art.” The next option is to leave.
So, you’re making art for an audience that you want to entertain or engage – you want the masses to see and know and “play” with your art. If so, yes, you need a creative group. This is not always the same as your community of fellow artists. That’s a broader form of the creative group, meant to supply general support and encouragement. No, you need two or more people you can turn to that will be completely honest about your work of art. But not just any type of person; they must be creative themselves, and willing to share their works with you as well. That way there is a continuous transfer of creative energy, a healthy give and take. That doesn’t mean when you share, they have to share and vice versa, but rather, you all agree to share when it’s comfortable. One advantage and by-product of doing this is encouraging each other out of an art block. Sometimes merely hearing someone else’s good and bad idea is all the spark we need. Or it provides the necessary reflection for our own work.
“His work is always melodramatic – does my work likewise evoke that same response? Is it a good thing? Should I change?”
“Her stuff gives everyone background and reason. I don’t think I’ve done enough of that for my own work.”
You can have these thoughts while also giving constructive criticism to your fellow artists. Just remember to be fair and not easily offended, and ask the same of your group. They aren’t here to stroke your ego. If that’s what you want, then just keep going to the same people who don’t have any expertise in what you are doing, who believe you are the next big creative genius, and leave the crew of helpful feedback alone. The point is to stop creating in a vacuum, to recognize what you are actually conveying to an audience instead of what you think you are.
Another key advantage to a creative group is helping you become a better editor through the act of showing your work. Back when I was in school, we always had to read a portion of our work to the class. This is what would happen almost every time:
Me, thinking: “I can’t wait to share.”
Teacher, looking at me: “Your turn.”
Me, looking at my paper: “Yay!”
Also me, noticing every typo and how the title doesn’t make sense and I forgot to write the name of the main character. Oh yeah, and this is the most boring part of the story!
It’s moments when you have to present your media that you see everything wrong with it. The part of our brain that experiences shame gets hypervigilant right when we don’t want it to. But it trains us to ask better questions of our work beforehand, the main one being, “Does any of this make sense?” If you have the capacity to get out of your own head and into someone else’s, particularly if you’re making distinctly commercial art, then this is a valuable skill to hone. You need to see your work through someone else’s eyes.
If your creative group is diverse – different economic backgrounds, schooling, ethnicities, belief systems, etc. – you will see how far reaching your art actually appeals. If Denice, the punk rock atheist with a middle class upbringing, always loves your work, but Charles, a working class Catholic originally from Canada, always hates it, investigate why. Maybe not by asking them explicitly what their background is, but dig deep into their opinions and see what about your work either plays to some of their ideological differences, or is possibly completely subjective. Sometimes your creative group has biases that work against you, and you can’t always identify them. In this respect, it’s best to remain open to criticism but not obligated to its “solutions”. I’ve seen many people make the mistake of trying to appease everyone. This is an express issue of the commercial creative who can’t stop “fixing” their work so everyone is happy. EVERYONE WILL NOT BE HAPPY.
But that’s the point. You join a creative group to see who you’re disappointing, or worse, who you’re boring. Is it a few, is it half, or is it everyone? If it’s everyone, good thing you know now so you can adjust. But acknowledge that it’s impossible to please everyone. Sometimes you have to accept the Charleses won’t like what you create. But at least you have the Denises.
SJ Wrytes 