Weathering the Creative Climb

This is my response to a younger L.A. writer friend who asked for some guidance re: “imposter syndrome,” gaining useable insight in his craft and the uncertainty of the long journey of a freelance creative entrepreneur:

It’s essential to get honest and constructive feedback on your work in order to grow. While classes can be helpful, it’s important to recognize that the classroom environment may not accurately reflect the real world. Teachers are financially incentivized to keep you in their class rather than guide you towards independence and a job. The supreme purpose of a good class should be to equip you with the skills needed to move beyond taking classes.

It’s not just about getting good. It’s knowing that you’re good. And it’s about who knows that you’re good. You must own and radiate a belief in yourself. If you don’t see it and believe it, no one else will, no matter the quality of your work.

The earlier years of a being a creative entrepreneur feel like stumbling around in the town square while being pelted with eggs and rotten fruit. The trick is not to take the insults and disregard personally. Don’t internalize insults or negative experiences. You are under no obligation to carry around any negatives flung at you.

As you learn, mixed results aren’t an indicator of failure or inadequacy. True learning requires vulnerability and a willingness to course correct. This is how you progress and strengthen your skills. It adds to your resumé, but more importantly, you are earning confidence and ease. This will eventually help others recognize your worthiness- in time.

Feeling off-kilter or undervalued is common for early-career freelance creatives. Most all successful individuals endure this for years before finding traction. Some find this part of the journey unbearable because they gauge their progress on achievement, while others enjoy the process, including the challenges, detours, and delayed rewards. The rest is best left behind. The latter stance is more fun, more productive, more long-term.

A great joke doesn’t start with the punchline.

Your primary focus should be on creating art that captivates. The goal of every audition is to make something that is irresistible- to others, but also to yourself. You arrive at this capacity by continuously improving your technique, by cultivating a fulfilling and meaningful life, and by prioritizing your health. These are the areas within your control that require your ongoing attention and self-assessment.

Explore the world but keep exploring yourself. Keep excavating and refining your inner resources- the good, the bad and the ugly. Self-discovery should be an ongoing project for any artist.

The more you have to bring to your art and the longer your track record of striving, the more you’ll attract other like-minded creatives going your way. This also draws those who hire to you.

It can be a lengthy, even maddening zigzag of a climb, even as you are in fact advancing.

Merely being present in a creative hub like Los Angeles and actively pursuing your dreams is already a significant achievement when viewed by those outside this ecosystem.

If imposter syndrome creeps in, remember that being hired, paid, or praised is a valid and genuine validation of your talent. Embrace every step forward. Own it.

Callbacks, paychecks, and awards are temporary indicators of your advance. But such reassurance is fleeting. The constant is the flow—a process of growth, exploration, and expanding capabilities within an ever evolving context of the entertainment market.

Your work-what you make- is the boat, your aspirational work field is the river. Don’t gauge your journey’s progress from how you feel inside the wobbly boat. Look instead to the slowly but steadily scrolling distant shore. And why not enjoy the ride?

In the vast creative market, you are the ultimate arbiter of your value and worth. The more you improve and devote to your journey, the more clearly you will come to recognize and own your competency, your unique brilliance. This self-assurance will serve as your guiding North Star.

When you truly embrace your value as an artist and as an individual, you possess ultimate power and freedom. It takes time to earn this liberating realization. Well-placed confidence has a way of leading to employment, but that is secondary to the pride you feel towards your expanding creative capacities and your pride in what you create.