Less Content, More Style

Why Style is King

The idea that “content is king” is popular not only for bloggers and business-people but for all artists — writers, painters, sketch artists, musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, photographers.

The hope behind this, most people presume, is that if you create enough content, people will have to notice it. At least one of your songs, your blog posts, your drawings, your videos will be seen, and at least one of them will connect with the audience in a way that will score you publicity.

However, just like with playing the lottery, the law of averages never seem to work in your favor. The Internet is saturated with content that either won’t be seen or will be easily passed over. It seems no matter how many blog posts one may publish, how many songs or videos one may upload, how many designs or illustrations one may feature, the result is the same: zero comments, zero downloads, zero views, etc. And most artists end up scratching their heads, only to push out more and more content.

Truth is, real artists don’t create content. They create styles — modes of acting, thinking, communicating that truthfully and dramatically express their personality.

Style is not about fashion or appearance. It isn’t about what other people are doing. It’s about self-expression. Even more, it’s about leadership. It’s about engaging and directing others to look at you and the world differently.

So how do you go about creating and developing your own style? There is no one way to create a style: your style is an expression of who you are, your unique values, and since everyone is unique, there is no single way to create a style.

However, there are some questions to help get you started thinking about style. In answering these questions you should have a deeper understanding of where to begin. As always, write your answers down:

1. What set of accepted values do you want to fight against? Artists are warriors of values. They create not just to create, but because they want to fight against accepted ways of thinking or believing. Style is their weapon against these accepted values. For yourself, start thinking about what it is that bugs you about the values, mores, and thinking of today. How do these values ignore what is possible or important?
2. What values or principles do you believe in? What values do you believe it would be healthy for others to adopt? It could be a variety of things, from “simplicity” to “appreciation of everyday life” to “critical thinking about politics” to “volunteering.” List them down.
3. What ways can you fight against accepted values by demonstrating and upholding your own values or principles through art-content? This is key. The key word is “demonstrating.” You are not telling people what they should or shouldn’t believe in. You are demonstrating, through stories, images, performance, objects, what it is possible and desirable to believe in. Be as detailed and specific as possible (i.e. necessary). Show, don’t tell.

With a world filled with tons and tons of content, style is actually scarce. If you attain your own style and master it, you will not only stand out, but you will be remembered.