On creative confidence

& a firm reminder (reposted from 2023)

Creative confidence is a mirror image of our dedication, fortitude, and self-belief. I want to speak about this topic because I think it is imperative right now. Many writers I know are discouraged for various reasons.

It’s understandable.

"On the one side were techno-optimists who foresaw a utopian future. AI would eliminate workplace drudgery, diagnose diseases more effectively than doctors could, and save humanity from one of its most loathed burdens: paying writers for anything, ever." —Brian Phillips

Our age and experience, the era, overstimulation, and even the available clock time we have to create and release what we take in: all of it contributes to our feelings about what we create and its relative value.

Some of us feel we should be creating more, others wonder if writing even matters in a time of automation and shameless plagiarism. Then there’s time. Those with little time, or who try to do things quickly often produce works that contain a sort of fever pitch. They can only produce in fits and spurts.

But all of this can work to the benefit of the outcome of our writing. The seeming lack of IP forces us to adopt the “write for myself” mindset. Lack of time might add momentum if it is not forced. But we have to believe in ourselves and our messages. When we start to put pressure on ourselves (or feel external pressure) to meet unrealistic timelines or compete with others, it seems the work itself responds with rebellion.

“As any classically trained singer or actor can tell you, trying to make your voice sound like someone else’s can do all manner of damage to it.”

—Lauren Elkin

So here we are.

The absence of motivation or quality time to write often comes with a certain heavy feeling that you may relate to. This heaviness is the sheer absence of the creative process in our lives. Meanwhile, I am a firm believer that we all need to ride the waves of what comes and release the emotion around what doesn’t.

Individually, we can’t change larger trends and many don’t have the luxury to create more time, but we can change our mindset about the whole deal. Easy to say, I know. But this is why fostering creative confidence is the order of the day.

I’ll be honest that what follows hints at a sort of creative destiny that I buy into. You don’t have to, of course, but I find more grace in reminding myself of the call to authenticity over the pressure to strive. Sure, we are in an environment that tells us otherwise, that tells us our worth is in some paper or accolade or number. We are in a time that pressurizes artists and tries to diminish contributions by replicating them en masse. Got it, got it! but! Here’s my message.

Stop wasting time trying to become what and who you already are.

You are where you need to be. You are creating what you are supposed to be creating and creating it at the perfect pace and in a way that will allow the result to find its ideal timeline and audience—be that small or large, be that what you think will meet your current expectations or not. Despite what you sometimes think, you are on the right track, and it matters, and it matters in the way it should. Share your messages in the way you are sharing them, not from a place of pressure or guilt or fear or competition or even urgency. Share what you are called to share and nothing more.

Again, stop wasting time trying to become what and who you already are.

This is a bit of self-talk, but I thought I’d share it here with the intuition that it might resonate with a few of you. Yes, our voices matter, but perhaps the more important message is that we will say exactly what we need to say and release what we observe in our own time. All we have to remember is not to get in our own way or psyche ourselves out.

The dystopic art narrative is just that, after all—another story.