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Stories, Criticism, and Complacency
8 years ago
I'm guilty of a mild complacency myself, as much as I could accuse others of the same thing. But we need to write more. I need to write more.
I give myself enough of the benefit of the doubt, being a new mom, in my first year of my doctoral program, but I can't forget my commitment to narratives, producing them as much as I examine them. I want more writing for the comics that I'm working on, the short stories I'm doing professionally, the novel I've started, the FBA, and even a game I'm planning.
Keep writing, keep creating: that's the short version.
On the subject of criticism, unwanted criticism is something most artists in general have faced. It's difficult to process, and it's rarely productive. On the one hand, criticism without provocation doesn't always yield something positive, and on the other, you're making a piece of art that enters a conversation. It isn't just consumed; it passes into a community and has to interact with its readers. No art is so pure to not enter that conversation, and no artist/writer should be so pure as to not consider themselves a part of that dialogue.
By a stroke of chance, I happen to be talking with a friend about a similar subject. They mentioned striking a balance between introspection and self-praise. On the one extreme, there is the individual so afraid of producing and living up to standards that they go stagnant; on the other, the writer that assumes so much of their ability that they become self-absorbed. The latter is the more dangerous of the two; how does one improve if they assume themselves to already be a master? Are they so invested in criticizing others that they cannot turn that criticism inward?
I'll admit guilt to both of them, being so critical that I can't produce and being so proud that I'll push out a product that needed more consideration.
The unique thing about furries and furry communities is that we are just that: a community. Rarely are you going to have the collaborative gravitation that we have in these situations.
Keep the circle-jerking to a minimum. You're going to have friends and people you work well with, and that's great. That's a big source of your creative drive, and you can draw on that. But if you become complacent and only work with the same people? You stagnate. You'll all put out the same kind of stories with the same kind of detail and, ultimately, the same kind of problems. Diversify, read and write different kinds of things, work with different kinds of people.
And I'm taking my own medicine as well.
I give myself enough of the benefit of the doubt, being a new mom, in my first year of my doctoral program, but I can't forget my commitment to narratives, producing them as much as I examine them. I want more writing for the comics that I'm working on, the short stories I'm doing professionally, the novel I've started, the FBA, and even a game I'm planning.
Keep writing, keep creating: that's the short version.
On the subject of criticism, unwanted criticism is something most artists in general have faced. It's difficult to process, and it's rarely productive. On the one hand, criticism without provocation doesn't always yield something positive, and on the other, you're making a piece of art that enters a conversation. It isn't just consumed; it passes into a community and has to interact with its readers. No art is so pure to not enter that conversation, and no artist/writer should be so pure as to not consider themselves a part of that dialogue.
By a stroke of chance, I happen to be talking with a friend about a similar subject. They mentioned striking a balance between introspection and self-praise. On the one extreme, there is the individual so afraid of producing and living up to standards that they go stagnant; on the other, the writer that assumes so much of their ability that they become self-absorbed. The latter is the more dangerous of the two; how does one improve if they assume themselves to already be a master? Are they so invested in criticizing others that they cannot turn that criticism inward?
I'll admit guilt to both of them, being so critical that I can't produce and being so proud that I'll push out a product that needed more consideration.
The unique thing about furries and furry communities is that we are just that: a community. Rarely are you going to have the collaborative gravitation that we have in these situations.
Keep the circle-jerking to a minimum. You're going to have friends and people you work well with, and that's great. That's a big source of your creative drive, and you can draw on that. But if you become complacent and only work with the same people? You stagnate. You'll all put out the same kind of stories with the same kind of detail and, ultimately, the same kind of problems. Diversify, read and write different kinds of things, work with different kinds of people.
And I'm taking my own medicine as well.
This is my entire life. XD