Feeling stuck? Get unstuck by rethinking our goals

Get unstuck creatively with the Creative Review and Reframe Workbook

Feeling stuck? Find a path forward with the Creative Review and Reframe Workbook, free when you sign up for the Rebel Yell Creative newsletter.

When we're struggling to create because the world is on fire, it's tough to see a way forward.

Especially because when we decide to make things no one asked for, the goals seem pre-determined:

• If you're a writer, the goal is automatically...publish a book from a print publisher.

• If you're a musician, the goal is assumed to be...an album in Spotify.

• If you're a visual artist, the goal is naturally...a show in a gallery.

• If you're a filmmaker, the goal is...a movie distributed by a studio.

• And if you're an online creator, the goal is... a sponsored channel with thousands of followers.

But when we limit ourselves to the traditional, to what has come before,

to the status quo...we can end up hobbling ourselves.

Gatekept

In the writing world, publishers often won’t even accept work without a literary agent. Getting an agent is an often inscrutable and impossible process. It’s the same for music, visual art, film, performance, comedy, online content... the list goes on.

Slowed

Getting that agent can take months or years. You may spend years with that agent finalizing the book/music/etc. That’s all before submitting to publishers, which can take months and years. So much wasted time.

Compromised

Even if you make it all the way through the gauntlet, and get a book/album/film sold... you may be asked to make compromises on your content. If you get sponsored, you may be asked to soften the edges, and put out the fire.

Unpaid

Authors get tiny royalties from books. They rarely make enough from books for a living. Same for other creators. Money in the traditional paths is rare and limited.

Pursuing the traditional routes may deprive your audience from ever

seeing your work. It may result in work that is watered down, wrung

through a committee, and devoid of what made it unique.

So what can we do instead?

It’s time to think bigger, and prize the smaller.

If we rethink our traditional end goals for writing, and prioritize who we are and what we want...what then?

Maybe your end goal becomes:

• Creating an audio fiction podcast instead of a novel.

• Serializing your long work into newsletters on Substack or Beehiv.

• Making small, hand-made zines to leave around your community.

• Creating print-on-demand books

  
  

The medium can be just as unique and powerful as the message. And that applies across all genres of art. The medium could be the way you reach your true audience.

So what could your end goal be?

Once you think about your goals, return to the 6 key questions and see whats changed!

Explore what's inside the Creative Review and Reframe Workbook with these articles:

• Six questions to take stock

• Which stage of creative work are you in?

• Let's get weird

• A creative manifesto for today's world

• When to enlist a partner

Sign up at Rebel Yell Creative to get your free copy of the Creative Review and Reframe Workbook.

The Creative Review and Reframe Workbook comes as a digital PDF. View on your device, or print to write! 

Prefer a pre-printed workbook? Get yours here!