Don't throw your creative work before illiterate swine. I write much poetry these days. Figurative, personal, and sometimes frightenly emotional, I have found that people (read friends and family) usually fail to appreciate the poetry or affirm the poet. I have some thoughts about my relationship to the uncreative world. Read more in my blog call2create.
People have told me that I should create primarily for me and my joy. I understand their point. However, honest writers, painters, or singers will tell you that they want to touch others with their creativity. I recently wrote a tribute to my coach who just passed the baton into the race beyond. I cried while writing this tribute to a special man. I processed pain and felt joy from my writing. I wrote for me. However, I also felt great satisfaction to hear from my family, friends, guys I ran with thirty years ago, and especially Coach's brother that my words had brought tears to their eyes.
Fastforward to this July 4th weekend. I wrote a poem about freedom and slavery. The poem talked about the possibility of reenslaving ourselves to various addictions and thereby defiling the freedom that brave men and women purchased for us with their blood. People at the party too busy making jokes and talking nonsense had no time or appreciation for such thoughts no matter how beautifully expressed.
One woman I greatly respect read it out of courtesy but responded, “cute.” Cute wasn't exactly the response I expected. Okay, I'll try to develop a gift that every established novelist probably already possesses. I will try to put myself in the place of the people to whom get my writing shoved at them at parties, meetings, etc.
One, they have come not to a literary group but a social event. They want to socialize. They have in their mind a definition of socializing that includes food, laughing, and pulling legs. They had a hard day at work. They don't want to think. They're distracted. And from I observe are probably uncomfortable. Two percent of the population does well in a large group setting. They light up the party. The rest of us walk in fear. We have never quite left high school. We fear rejection. The milleu hardly lends itself well to creative art.
I have noticed the same issues for my good friend Isaac. Isaac can sing. I mean he can really sing and has performed in some impressive venues. He brings his guitar to almost every event that I frequent. We welcome him with open arms. Few listen to him. Few compliment. He becomes noise in the background. Now if Isaac fails to command a crowd with music auditory and involving little thought, what chances do I have with my figurative, obtuse poetry that requires an attention span more than a fifteen second commercial.
Isaac truly does it for the love of the music and to keep in touch with performing before a crowd.
My other friend, Jessica performs all around Portland. She too has increidble gifts that she has honed through much patience and practice. I have never seen her perform at social events. She performs when booked and paid. I watched her at Mock Crest recently. She takes the crowd by storm. She loves her music as much as Isaac. However, she has chosen a venue where people have come to listen and appreciate.
So what's the lesson for this writer and hopefully you in your particular, peculiar ilk. Create where appreciated. I will no longer show my work to friends at parties and meetings. I will showcase on my blog, my hubpage, my webpage and in print. I'll put it in a book for people who actually read and appreciate language. And yes, I will get paid for my creativity and will nolonger throw my creative hard work before the unappreciative swine.
That sounds a bit harsh. I don't really mean swine. I just harken to the Bible verse about throwing your pearls before the swine. Even Jesus saw that people of his hometown, including his family, failed to appreciate him or his work. He offered his gift to those who wanted it. As He started to heal people He always required the recipients to do something in order to receive the gift. He made them express their faith in some way. He came to realize that people would appreciate more that for which they had paid.
People assume that something free probably has little value. Good artists put a heafty price on their work. They more they charge the more people seem to appreciate. God must shake his head sometimes huh? Creative types learn this lesson well. Charge for your hard earned creative talent. Someone asked a painter how long it took him to paint that picture. The painter replied, “All my life!” Think about it.
I have made some decisions then about my work. I will publish on my blog in first draft for the interested. Readers will still have to click to the link. The interested will go. Then I will publish in Hubpage where I get paid for them to make that click. Then I will publish on LuLu where readers will paid to get my ideas electronically or on paper.
Looking at it a different way. Me pushing poetry at parties feels like peddaling rolex watches on the street. Me offering my creative talent online or in book form feels more like owning a legitimate bookstore where people come to me.
I have tried door to door sales. Give me a storefront any day. I started this blog call2create to encourage and influence other creative types. I hope that this particular article helps you avoid one of the subtle pitfalls. Choose your venue carefully. Create, offer your creation in an appropriate venue, and charge people for the lifetime you have put into developing your creativity.
Now go create.
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