Many artists out there contend with the self doubt and imposter syndrome that they are not good enough to create anything. Other artists skew toward the opposite extreme and think their unreleased work—or released but poorly received work—is just so much better than what’s popular. Whichever way you slice it, art is our attempt at capturing perfection through the execution of our skills and imagination.

But what happens with our skills don’t match up with our imagination? I’ve heard some would-be musicians say they want to make music, but they could never write anything that sounds as good as what they hear in their heads. Or there’s even novelists, some of which I worked with back in my Writing Coaching days, that have fantastic story ideas mapped out in their heads, but have never put pen to paper. What hurt me more were the times I’d help create a mind map of their novels and they’d still refuse to put that organized visualization of their story into manuscript form.

It all comes to self worth and self perception when an artist is either too doubtful of themselves or overly confident about their abilities, that they forget that creating anything of value comes from a place of humility, respect, and authenticity as I’ve outlined before. So today we’re going to look at the top three things that should encourage you get started on that project you’ve only dreamed of:

1. So Many Fundamentally Flawed Works Are Published and Produced All the Time
2. Let That Inspire You to Risk Doing the Same
3. Doing Something Badly is Better Than Not Doing it at All

The World is Full of Flawed Work

You’ve probably heard your friends, online critics, or even your own mentors trash talk a piece of art out there in the world. In fact, that’s usually what we’re bombarded with most of the time; people being discontent with the state of art and literature as opposed to the rare few people out there who have the guts to be earnest with their love for art.

Think of infamous things like the Twilight Saga or basically reality TV (if you can even call that art), and you’ll start to see that the world is full of flawed artwork. Now you can easily pick them apart and say how much better they could be, especially if you’re well educated in your field of creativity, but the real beauty lies in trying to understand why it strikes a chord with some people.

While there are some pieces of art out there that are well known, but not popular at all, and definitely not well received at all, there are super mainstream things that everyone accepts as crap, but it’s loved anyway. Once again, case in point, The Twilight Saga. I remember in my writing class my teacher actually brought Twilight to dissect as it was an easy mark to display bad writing.

But as she was picking it apart for the low hanging fruit that it was, she was also surprised by and remarked on the passages of the book that were actually well written. This got me to thinking; is the book really all that bad or is hating it just a fad as much as it is for middle aged housewives and teenage girls alike to be in love with this romantic violent vampire story?

Upon reading it myself and watching the movie adaptation, I came to the conclusion that the answer is yes to both questions. It wasn’t really all that good as people hyped it up to be, nor was it really as bad as people trashed it to be, but I could see why they might see it that way. Either way, it doesn’t really matter because no matter what the critics say, Stephanie Meyer made a goddamn killing off this series and I’m sure she’s laying in bed at night, wiping her tears with $100 bills because some asshole on the internet said her book sucked.

Even putting money aside as a possible measurement for an artwork’s success and value, the very fact that she wrote these books is already a feat in its own. Writing a novel to completion is hard work. Trust me, I’ve done it, and I’ve yet to publish anything. So while I’m proud that I’ve completed several drafts of several different novels by now which is more than a lot of would-be writers can say, I’m still stumped by the onslaught of other books out there that were published by the sheet courage and determination by those authors. Stephanie Meyer or otherwise.

Let That Inspire You to Risk Doing the Same

So for every piece of got artwork out there, there’s thousands more that suck, but nonetheless they’re out there in the world for anyone to engage in. Crappy movies, shitty books, poorly produced TV shows, etc. This alone should inspire you to get your own work done and do away with what the critics might say. While every creator is different and handles criticism differently, the fact remains that their work is out there whether people like it or not.

In fact, people not liking your work is a guarantee. I’ve had people tell me straight up that something I made was boring and yes that was a huge punch to my confidence. But you know what? I shrugged it off and continued making stuff anyway.

Why? Because unless a critic gives me a valuable suggestion on how to improve my work, then I usually discount what they have to say because maybe what I make just doesn’t resonate with them, and that’s fine too.

If someone does give you useful feedback, it’s worthwhile thinking about and considering. Remember, it’s the mark of an intelligent person to entertain an idea without agreeing to it. This is why it’s valuable to join a critique group or get a mentor because having that outside perspective can really give you perspective on how you can improve.

But whether you take their criticisms to heart or not, what matters is that you create regardless of how you think it’s gonna be received. Of course we prefer people to praise us to high heavens, but you shouldn’t create anything to seek that kind of external validation. Nor should you not create due to the fear of being criticized because that just comes with the territory.

Doing Something Badly is Better Than Not Doing it at All

You can’t call yourself a creator if you don’t create. Even if you create badly, it’s better than being someone who is all talk and no walk. As I’ve harped on preators before, you will already be ahead of the curve if you just decide to work on something that is the expression of your purpose. Whether you express yourself through music or literature, it’s important to get that out of your system rather than letting be an anxiety that builds up over time.

Especially when there’s already so much artwork out there that gets scrutinized from now until kingdom come. Don’t let that stop you. In the wise words of Mr. Rogers:

Whether you’re a hobby artist or a professional one, don’t ever let the quality of your work prevent you from enjoying the process of creating it in the first place. If quality is what you strive for, there are tremendous resources out there that can help you get to the skill level you want to get at. It takes a lot of hard work and patience, and we will talk more about how to develop that patience in a future post!