Competition in creative fields

Allies or adversaries? Plus: invisible women, journal prompts & more

A bit of publishing drama came across my social media feeds, and it got me thinking about how people in creative fields view people in their same creative fields. Are we allies or adversaries? It doesn’t make sense on surface level, but if you’re a writer or a painter or a musician, then other writers or painters or musicians are your friends and your community—not your competition. This took me a while to understand, but trust me, life is so much better with this mindset.

(I’m going to stick with creative fields because I have zero clue if this kind of drama is something bankers or the like experience, just fyi)

So here’s the tea: Cait Corrain, a debut author, made multiple fake Goodreads accounts and 1-star review-bombed her fellow authors, some of whom with deals at the same imprint as her, and many of whom were BIPOC. She has since issued an apology of sorts and detailed her struggle with mental health issues and substance abuse. Still, no matter how difficult and challenging the publishing industry is (and yes, it is unbelievably difficult and challenging), nothing excuses racist behavior.

In creative fields, I think it’s really easy to see other people doing the same thing as you (fellow writers, performers, musicians, dancers, etc.) as competition. People who you have to be better than. People who can limit the already limited opportunities out there—after all, there are only so many books that can be written, songs that can be sung, or photos to be taken!

This is, of course, wrong, and it’s an awful mindset to have for a billion reasons. I will not list a billion, but I’ll list a few:

• It creates a scarcity mentality that there are only so many opportunities out there, which is simply not the case; it can also limit you from creating your own opportunities (as in: self-publishing rather than waiting to get picked up by an agent; writing a play with a character you want to play vs. waiting to be cast; creating an art show instead of hoping your work will get picked up by one; etc.)

• General ~bad vibes~; people can sense when you secretly hope something will ruin their shot at a cool opportunity. And, even worse, the negative juju could lead you to do something genuinely harmful, as in the case of Cait Corrain.

• When opportunities are more fairly given to BIPOC individuals, white folks in particular can feel like something is being taken away from them, despite the fact that BIPOC people have faced fewer opportunities in earnest for forever. But how many inspiring stories and pieces of art could we have if people supported creatives who are finally given more equitable chances rather than harbored resentment against them? And what other amazing stories and art could their work generate? We’re literally robbing ourselves of inspiration!

• It’s downright exhausting to feel like every opportunity is a battle. I think most people go into creative fields for the love of it, for the enjoyment—and if everyone is the enemy, that makes it a rather fraught place to be.

When I was going on auditions as an actor in New York, I could not wrap my head around why people were so excited to see their audition buddies in line—the same people who always went out for the same roles as them. After all, the more people who showed up for the role, the less of a chance I had to land the role.

The reality that those actors understood so much better than I did is that your fellow creatives are your community. They, more than anyone, understand what you’re going through when it comes to process or practice or struggles or triumphs. Who better to rally with and talk about methods and tools and resources? Who better to collaborate with or ask for advice? Plus, they’re the people to show up for, to cheer on and support because, guess what—when it’s your turn for success, they’ll be the ones to show up for you.

It’s natural to feel a little jealousy when your dream doesn’t come to fruition or when a chance hasn’t panned out. Jealousy doesn’t have to be an ugly thing; instead, it can help us assess what we really want. It can motivate and help us move forward. And you can say, “Yes, I want something like that for myself one day,” and still have joy for people who have already achieved it before you.

I don’t understand everything about the publishing industry or about every creative field ever, and I certainly respect how basically any field is extra-challenging for BIPOC folks so being all yogi master the-right-opportunity-will-find-you isn’t helpful. But I do think you can drive yourself mad if you don’t find a way to celebrate other amazing creative people. When you do get to shoot your shot, it could be a lonely thing indeed if you haven’t nurtured your own creative community.

When I look at Twitter (which is rare these days), I’ll often see people announcing their new agents or their amazing book deals. I feel a little bit of, “Huh. I’d like that.” But I am actually happy for others to succeed as writers because I love writing! I love books! And they could never write the book I wrote, or vice versa, so their success doesn’t preclude mine. No need to pout, and definitely no need to go Scorched Earth Mode. I know how hard it is to write a book and if that’s where the journey has taken them, then great! I’m on that journey, too. We don’t have to walk it one at a time, we can walk it side-by-side.

What’s your relationship with creatives in your field? How do you build your creative community? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 🤗

And now for something completely different…

Baby’s first video post. Apologies for the scary kind of creepy dress form in the background!

For a transcription of this video, please head here.

Hot Takes, Cool Recs

• A few months back I talked about starting some kind of online boutique where I sell items from around the world. That’s the big goal; for now, I’m starting small with this idea of mine as Artifact on Depop. I have some things from my closet that I’m selling, but more importantly you’ll find some Santa Fe finds on there. It’s been a fun experience so far, although I only started listing items last week.

• Get more out of life with a creative practice.

• Thanks to Andrea Reeves at Rebellious Systems for some thoughtful journaling prompts for December. Holiday craziness can stress people out, and taking to pen and paper is a great way to decompress and process.

• Being in my mid-30s, I have both feared and anticipated the coming decades where I will become invisible. This woman discusses using her “invisibility cloak” to do inappropriate things.

• Some romance books to add to your TBR, thanks to Chelsey Feder at The Eclectic Reader .

• The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a trio of Christmas films, not Thanksgiving. Frodo even said so.

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- Theresa