Why What You Create Feels Lackluster
How to get in the right mindset if you are questioning what you create
I had a conversation with one of my friends recently and he was feeling down about one of the creative projects he was working on. I reassured him that what he was feeling wasn’t true and told him a few things I am going to share with you in this article.
I related to his remarks about his work. As someone who is working on a book, many times I have thought that my idea seemed boring or not something that people would enjoy.
I believe this is something many creators come across at some point in their journey, but I beg you to keep going and don’t give up on your idea.
Think about it: we creators stare at our work all the time. We think about it and roll over ideas in our minds constantly to add to the creation. If we should tweak something we have written or painted or fill in the blank.
When you know what is going to happen or if you have been staring at something for hours, the idea becomes monotonous.
Take a Break
If this is the case, the best thing could be to take a step back. Take a break from the project, and work on something else. You could work even other aspects of the same project if you feel as if you can’t fully step away from the work.
Is the plot in your book feeling dull and repetitive? Work on your character development (or some other aspect of your book) and come back to the plot later with fresh eyes. There might be plot lines you hadn’t thought of before that come to you because you took a fresh look.
Just please don’t scrap everything because you feel it isn’t working.
First drafts suck
Maybe the above isn’t the reason that you find your work lackluster. Maybe you truly believe that it isn’t good. If you just started you might be right, but not for the reasons you might think.
When we first start creating it will probably suck. My book is currently in the first draft stage and I will tell you right now there are many grammar mistakes, especially if Grammarly is to be believed. The plot is getting there, but I know it will be tweaked several times along the way.
At one point I restarted another draft because I wasn’t feeling where my first draft was going. I got 11,000 words in and went back to the original draft. I honestly do think it was helpful even if the 11,000 words would have gotten me that much closer to completing the first draft had I stuck with it.
However, I now know how I want the first act to go, which is completely different from how the book started originally. When you start something for the first time, like writing a book, you are going to have pitfalls and times when the imposter syndrome is beating on your door.
Keep going and push through.
I say all of this because I don’t want you to compare your first draft to someone’s final published draft. That is not a fair comparison. Everyone has to start somewhere even New York Times Best Sellers.
I reference writing a lot because that is what I do but this goes for any type of art form you create.
You are convinced
Now maybe you are thinking that you don’t fall into either of these categories. You are on your final draft, but you feel that your work is subpar or not as good as it could be. If this is the case and stepping away doesn’t work then my advice would be to ask for a second opinion.
I know the thought of sharing your work especially unfinished or when you feel it is not good is hard but getting a second opinion might be needed to boost your confidence.
However, I would be careful with who you choose to do this. You don’t want someone that is going to sugarcoat everything, telling you it is wonderful if you truly want honest feedback.
I don’t recommend moms for this.
Getting some honest feedback about your work can help boost your confidence about your project and help you keep going.
Putting yourself into creative work and then feeling like it isn’t good enough can be devastating. However, even though you might be feeling this way now, that doesn’t mean it is true.
Sometimes our feelings lie to us.
So, please if you are feeling any of these ways try and implement these steps because I am telling you, your work is unique because you are. No one will do it as you can.
Thanks for reading!
