If you are reading this, you are probably some sort of creator; writer, painter, sculptor, photographer, animator, or another type of artist. As a creator, you have probably asked yourself questions on multiple occasions, some of them being:
“Why am I doing this?”
“Am I good enough?”
“Will anybody care about this?”
The answers to these questions are as follows:
Because you enjoy it.
Always.
At least one person already does: you.
Everything is worth creating. If it excites you, there will be someone out there in this world who is excited by it, too. Remember that when you are feeling doubt.
Think about what would happen if the roles were reversed and you were the consumer desperately waiting for more content from the creator: you would do everything you could to encourage them and show that you appreciate them and their work, right? You would send kind notes, perhaps a gift, and tell all your friends and family about the creator to help them cultivate a wider audience.
Now come back to reality where you are the creator. Create. If the quality isn’t quite what you hope for, the only thing to do is keep going. As you continue creating, you will improve. You cannot wait around for someone else to make whatever it is you crave just because it is difficult. As the saying goes, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
This saying has been the biggest motivator for myself and my writing. I used to be ashamed that I have written multiple novel-length fan fictions (and still write smaller pieces on occasion), but I have come to appreciate it more than I can verbalize. I wrote fan fiction because I wasn’t happy with the media already available to me. I wanted more. I wanted to continue exploring my favorite worlds and characters and following new stories. No one else would do that for me, at least not in a way I was truly satisfied with, so I took it upon myself to create what I wanted. And now, years later, I am well on my way to writing several original multi-volume series that I hope to publish. Perhaps one day, they will inspire readers to create their own interpretations of my work just like I have with my favorite stories.
So create. When those doubting thoughts come along, remember that something spurred you to create in the first place. Nothing has changed since then. You are the only one that can accurately execute the vision trapped within your mind. Now it is time to share that vision with the rest of the world.
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