If You Are a Creator, Stop Worrying About Getting Your Product Out There – Do This Instead

This will change the way you view your creative work.

This blog post is now a podcast episode!

Have you ever felt like you can’t share your creative project yet, because it’s not good enough or not finished? I have. I bet most creators harbor the assumption that they have to hit some kind of excellence level or at least having something finished before they unleash it on the world. I mean, a musician can’t get up and perform a song that’s not polished, perfect, done, right? A writer can’t release work that isn’t all those things. Right?!

Sure they can. And they should. I’m going to tell you a secret about creative work that will alter how you perceive it and make it easier for you to get your work out into the world where it belongs. Here it is: Don’t share your product. Share your process.

Hear me out. There are a lot of creative products out there. Especially nowadays when anyone can put their work online – and that’s a great thing! Creators are able to share their work more than ever before. And you’ve probably found yourself thinking, “My work has to be really good to get noticed in this glut of creative stuff being put out – how will I ever do something that excellent?” Okay, this is going to be hard to hear but bear with me. You probably won’t. None of us will. Because the creative field isn’t about being excellent anymore. There’s too much excellence out there. The vast majority of us will never be able to compete.

Wait! Please hear me out. This is actually a good thing. When we release ourselves from the enormous pressure of having to reach some arbitrary standard of excellence, we start seeing what really matters. Not our product. Our products will emerge, be released into the world, and then mostly be submerged in the never-ending stream of stuff being put out. What matters, and what people want to see, is you. They want to see how you create more than what you create. They want to see your struggles, your triumphs, your mistakes. Sure, many people will also enjoy your product – but most will stick around for your story. You are the most interesting and valuable thing about you.

Don’t believe me? Think about reality TV. What is that, if not a way of showing the process? Yes, it’s often staged, not “real” reality – but it’s also an exhibition of humanity in all its (admittedly often horrifying) glory, a spectacle of the act of messy living. People want to see you in your own act of living. Because that’s what they’re doing too. Struggling through it all just like you.

So how do you share your process? We’re not used to thinking about things in this way, so it may take some brainstorming. What that looks like for me is writing on this blog about whatever is currently inspiring me. I try not to think too hard about any individual subject - I just pick whatever’s on my mind lately and go with it. It also looks like what I talk about on my podcast. I turn on my mic, hit record, and start talking. I share my struggles, insecurities, moments of pride or shame. If you are a musician, maybe it looks like showing up at an open mic and talking to people about your current project and your anxiety about performing. Maybe you don’t even get up there that first time! The point is that you show up, and let yourself be seen. What if people are mean? What if they make fun of you? Some people may be like this - but I guarantee it’s because they aren’t brave enough to show up in the arena and be seen themselves.

Here’s an important difference to understand between sharing your process vs. your product. Product-sharing is based on the creator doing the work in an “invisible” space, i.e. they disappear from view for the length of time it takes to make their finished product. But process-sharing is based on visibility. Showing up consistently in your shared spaces is key. You need to put pieces of your process out there regularly enough that people feel like they are sharing in your experiences with you. After a while they’ll start looking for you. They’ll miss you when you’re not there.

One final thing to know about process-sharing is that it’s not about how good your product is. Does quality matter? Sure. But it matters in conjunction with you showing up and sharing what’s going on with you. And when you are sharing consistently, the relative excellence of any single piece you share ceases to matter as much. When you’re writing a blog post a week, only a small proportion of them need to be stand-outs. Most can fall within the “good enough” midrange. A few can be just eh. The same is true if you are a songwriter, visual artist, or other type of creator. Excellence isn’t the goal - and this knowledge has the effect of focusing you in on your process rather than outcomes, which will also benefit your creativity in general.

So remember the next time you get caught up in worries about whether your work is good enough or finished enough to put out there: Don’t share your product; share your process!