Lower the Stakes
Take the drama out of creating interesting work
If you want a bigger reaction from your audience, raise the stakes.
Your audience needs to know the hero is in danger. If there is no danger, the audience quickly loses interest in the story.
The greater the danger, the more suspense builds in the chests of the readers, viewers, and listeners.
Raising the stakes is critical for the audience.
But, raising the stakes is horrible for the artist.
Writer’s block and other creative blocks all come from the same place.
The artist has raised the stakes so much they are afraid to perform.
They have fallen too many times from the high wire and are sacred to walk out without a net.
As they should be.
But here’s the thing about creating art. You only need to raise the stakes inside of the story. You don’t have to raise the stakes for yourself.
The truth is, some of the best art comes once you learn to lower the stakes.
Keep the stakes low. If you don’t like the first word or the first sentence, you can always change them later. No worries.
If you don’t like the first line of your drawing, erase it, throw away the whole paper, or start drawing something different.
It doesn’t matter. Art isn’t life and death.
If you are struggling to create, lower the stakes.
What’s worst that can happen? You have to edit or erase?
That’s not so bad.
The revising and the touching up is where the real magic often happens anyway.
Do you want more visual essays like this in your life? Join my Weirdo Poetry Newsletter. It’s FREE to join. You get one or more posts each week with poetry comics and a short essay comic like this one. Paid members get additional posts and occasional digital freebies.
Part of the inspiration for this essay comes from an episode of The Memory Palace Podcast, where the host Nate DiMeo gave a stunning eulogy of Carla Wallenda, of The Flying Wallendas fame.
The Memory Palace is my favorite podcast. There isn’t anything else like it. The episodes are brief, but the stories stay with you forever. You should try it.
