My theory is that everyone who creates is nagged by doubts. Sometimes it's a paralyzing shout, sometimes it's a critical whisper -- but the devil lives on the artist's shoulder.
But Craig disagrees - he thinks that most artists are not consumed by doubts, that they must be confident in order to produce.
I realize it's extremely subjective, but here's my survey for artists, writers and other creative types:
How much negative press do you get from your psyche? What do you do about it?
I realize that admitting to self-doubt is not a highly-recommended marketing tool, so feel free to leave anonymous comments.
4 comments:
I have a hard time showing my work because I am so afraid of people hating my work. Only in the last few years (getting older) have I started to do it for myself and try not to care so much about other peoples opinions so much!
You've described how I feel after finishing almost every single solitary story that I have ever written. I'm always sure that there's no way my 700-word profile can adequately reflect the depth of an interesting person... or that I'm focusing so much on crafting the words that I've forgotten a critical detail, or that I've made some silly grammatical error that will be the only thing that the reader will remember from the story. It's not a paralyzing fear, by any stretch - I love writing, and I equate it to a healthy dose of stage fright for an actor or musician. But it's usually not until I'm flipping through a three-month old magazine that I come across one of my pieces and say, "Wow, that was pretty good!" So my vote is for your theory. :-)
For me, as a studio furniture maker, the answer has changed at different stages of my life. In my 20's and 30's I worried that any mistake I made ran the risk of making me unworthy of thinking of myself as an artist or craftsman. Now, in my 50's, I'm comfortable that life is a learning experience. For me the goal is no longer to create a flawless piece, but rather to always be learning. With that comes mistakes, it's part of the deal. At this stage of my creative life my goal is to enjoy the journey.
Kerri expressed the angst I feel before, during and after I've written a profile. My deepest desire is to find the right combination of words to capture that person. Oh, and yes, like Kerri I torture myself over every mistake. I collect them in my head and look them over from time to time. However, when my writing is an expression of my opinions, I don't worry one bit whether people will agree or disagree, or whether they'll like me or not. For some reason, when it comes to writing opinion, I feel more liberated from the need to please anyone. (Thanks, Erin, for the therapy session. :)
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