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EP 79 - A Creative Process: Part 5 - Out In The World
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This is part 5 of a multi-part series about the creative process. We’ll cover my thoughts on how this process applies to creating & publishing works, and how it applies to games, fiction writing, other creative endeavors, and our professional careers.
For more info & to download a free PDF of today's episode notes, visit: www.chriskreuter.com/CDWI
Join the Kreuter Studios mailing list: https://mailchi.mp/810367311f3d/ksbulletin
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Transcript
Introduction to Chris Kreuter
00:00:08
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On Chris deals with it, I talk about the frameworks and methods I use to clear personal, creative, and professional roadblocks. My goal is to help others bridge the gaps between where they're at now and what they want to achieve.
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If you're new to the show, I'm an engineer, writer, parent, game designer, leader, and reader who leverages that experience to develop creative solutions to problems. First, an AI statement, that all elements of this episode are products of the author, Chris Kreuter, and made without the use of any AI tools.
Creative Process Series Overview
00:00:39
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Welcome to episode 79 of Chris Deals With It. This is part 5 of a multi-part series about the creative process. We'll cover my thoughts on how this process applies to creating and publishing works and how it applies to games, fiction writing, other creative endeavors, and our professional careers.
00:00:56
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As always, the views expressed in this podcast are mine. What works for me isn't likely to work for you exactly the same way. The usefulness of these various pieces of advice will depend on your project, experience, tools, and more that I'll get into.
00:01:11
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The goal of this series is to share my frameworks, mindsets, strategies, and experiences that have led me to this point of my creative journey. This is an ever-evolving process as it should be for everyone.
Handling Critique and Contributions
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So today we're going to talk about putting your work out there in the world. This means dealing with the logistics and emotions of releasing your work, the handling of critique of others and of ourselves, how the work we create levels up our skills for future work,
00:01:38
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the importance of acknowledging others that aid your creative journey, understanding the financial realities of your project. We'll talk about the role of gatekeepers, their benefits versus the realities of self-publication.
Marketing and Mindset
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We'll talk about marketing, promoting our work, and lastly, having a healthy mindset when assessing the impact of our work. So congratulations, you made a thing. It's time to put it out there in the world.
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This project is a part of you. By releasing it or performing it, you're sharing part of yourself with the world.
Embracing Imperfection
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Our works can be imbued with our best ideas, experiences, feelings, hopes, fears.
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Now, there will inevitably be flaws in your work. After all, critics are going to critique. Not every work is going to resonate with everyone, and that's totally okay. You do need to accept the fact that we're fallible, imperfect humans trying to represent imperfect, limited versions of the human experience.
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Depending on your project, your work may not be finished. There may be bug fixes, product recalls, printing issues, software updates, ah downloadable content for video games, etc.
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But you do want to be wary of spending too much time polishing a cannonball. You don't want to use perfection as an excuse that prevents you from starting your future projects. At some point, you need to ship.
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And your work is also going to be a product of who you were when you made it. Every project is going to level you up in different ways. Over time, they become stepping stones or landmarks that lead you to future, hopefully better work.
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You're going to grow as a person because of and between the works that you create. you want to resist the urge to over-edit past versions of your work. Look at them lovingly as snapshots in time. I mean, are you the same person you were 10 years ago?
00:03:28
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Are you the same person you were one project to ago? Book three of the Rainy River Bees series features better writing than book one. But when I went through the second edition printing of them, ah aside from fixing a few glaring typos, I didn't edit that original text in the first book, primarily out of the respect for the writer that wrote it.
Acknowledging Supporters
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Be sure to appreciate everyone who helps you along the creative journey. Acknowledge their contributions or their support or inspiration within the work itself if possible. This could be an acknowledgment in the back of a book or in the playbill for a performance, are the end credits of a video game.
00:04:02
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People love seeing their name in print or on the screen. Thank them personally. Provide them free copies or tickets if possible. Although many are happy to support your art, you do want to find a balance between the starving artist and showing your appreciation for their contributions, making them feel like they're a part of the process.
00:04:19
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Make them part of the in-group around your creativity. If you treat people right over a long enough timescale, things tend to work out for you. Think about reciprocity. Helping other creatives helps you develop your own skills.
00:04:32
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It strengthens your network and improves your ability to receive feedback. Remember from the last episode where I talked about that editing process with the New York City Playtest Design Group, where that iterative process of having to help other creatives made me a better game designer and a better creative person.
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You know a big tenant of that group was putting in time in exchange for taking time.
Financial Guidance for Creatives
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How much pressure is there to profit from your work? Now that's going to depend on the budget you spent to make it. Do you have investors that are expecting to recoup those investments?
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Could you utilize crowdsourcing to help publish and distribute your project? Are you going to use a Creative Commons license? That's going to permit remixes, inspire some derivative works, etc.
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And are you using such content? And if so, are you providing proper attribution in your work? Think about how much long tail your work might have. You know, when you make expectations of the money you're going to make for your work, you want to have realistic expectations, especially if you're unknown just starting out.
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When in doubt, try to ask some pros. And will you or did you end up with a ton of inventory that you have to move at some point? Recall the example I gave earlier in the production episode, that was episode 77, about when we printed so many copies of Epigo, we sat have them sitting in a warehouse and paying monthly fees.
00:05:45
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You need to be sure to discuss the tax implications of your creative business with an accountant. Establishing your creative endeavors through an LLC here in the U.S. or maybe some other business arrangement can provide financial and legal benefits depending on the type of work that you're creating.
00:06:02
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Certain expenses used in the creation of projects can reduce your overall tax liabilities. But again, please speak with accountant.
Gatekeepers and Promotion Strategies
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You can ignore gatekeepers. It is easier than ever to put your work out there in the world, but that's likely to limit the audience for your work.
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Recognize that gatekeepers, that could be publishing houses, agents, reviewers, etc., they do serve a role. It'll be near impossible for your work to reach the masses without them, not to say it can't happen.
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But in my experience, I try to avoid distributors and middlemen who insist on DRM, that's Digital Rights Management. These are digital locks on content. By insisting on these tools, such as Audible, owned by Amazon, distributors take control of the art and the businesses of creators and their investors.
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This results in creators becoming commodity suppliers for a distribution channel that calls all the shots. But for producing your work, print-on-demand is amazing now, with quality that is comparable to many professional printers.
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You also want to be wary of vanity presses and pay-to-play schemes. There's lots of them out there, especially when it comes to self-published books. Consider the marketing promotion strategy of your work.
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This will depend on if you're self-producing or working with agents or producers. What's the signal you're going to send out to get heard above the noise? What differentiates your work from prior art or industry trends or expectations?
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Are you going to need to go narrow or niche or very wide? Will you have or need a social media strategy? Are there contests out there that are taking submissions? Look at your network. Who do you have in that network that can help?
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ah In the words of the podcaster Jordan Harbinger, you'll need to dig that well before you're thirsty. Can you develop some kind of transmedia strategies to promote yourself and your work? An example here would be from the Rainy River Bees 3 book that I did where I had an opportunity to integrate partner brands and products into my work.
00:07:57
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Rink rat roller hockey wheels and blade shades sunglasses. And they, again, when the book came out, it was cool for them to
Learning from Failure
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see their stuff in print. it was my way to honor a product that I believed in. i got to integrate it into the art in really cool ways that made it more realistic.
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And I got a nice little social media bump because they were promoting the work. Especially when you're starting out, but I think at every stage of the creative process, you want to be patient. Initial commercial or critical failure doesn't necessarily mean that it was a failed project.
00:08:23
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Commercial failures can also be seen as learning experiments, leveling up moments. It's possible the original work struggled to find the right audience. In the future, it might be possible to reformat it into a different form factor, or maybe have a different graphic design on the cover, or maybe you target it to a different audience who may appreciate it.
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Epigo and Masquerade Games, the game company that I co-founded, was not a successful financial enterprise, but the skills that we developed through those projects were as valuable as a master's degree in so many areas.
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Graphic design, publication, marketing, iteration, rapid prototyping, writing, distribution arrangements, convention logistics, and I can rattle off even more. um With distribution agreements, understanding the mindset and challenges of the producer has paid huge dividends in my day job that involves the distribution of goods. I understand their challenges just that much better.
Repurposing Projects
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And with any project, be sure to do a post-mortem analysis. After a certain amount of time, can you crystallize the lessons learned? Can you improve your systems, techniques, craft, and detection systems to avoid future pitfalls?
00:09:32
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and Listen, there's going to be a certain amount of ambiguity with your work. It might end up as something notable. It might only end up as a resume piece. What internal narrative will the work have for you?
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How is that narrative and the work itself going to evolve in your mind? The gaming industry is similar to that of writers. It's hard to have fixed contracts and steady, reliable work.
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You are judged by the quality of what you produce. Your project can serve multiple ends. Elements of your past projects or your current ones might be repurposed or added upon to create different things.
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What might flop in one arena could be a smashing success in another. quick example might be an audio version of a book rather than the written one because it's easier distribute. Or an e-book, for example.
00:10:18
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From the start, I planned my lecture to a class of college students into content for this series that you're listening to now. This increased the return on the work that I put into this lecture, while also allowing it to reach a much wider audience through Chris Deals With It.
00:10:33
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This is also the reason I write very detailed episode notes, which are basically my scripts, for every episode of Chris Deals With It. They're something that I can leverage for a future book project.
Finding Motivation and Support
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So when assessing the impact of your work, have a healthy mindset.
00:10:47
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One of my best friends, the author Carlos Hernandez, once told me something vital. Writing is my best thought. If all our creative effort did was to clarify how we think about something or help us process something, that might be enough depending on the project.
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Everyone's calculus on that is going to be different. Knowing what counts as a win up front can be a huge benefit when you're putting work out there in the world and dealing with a reaction to it.
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Today's quote is courtesy of the author, philosopher, and civil rights activist Howard Thurman. Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. And go do that.
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Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. And with that, have a great day.
00:11:39
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If you feel that Chris dealt with it, I'd appreciate your support of the show by sharing it with someone who might benefit. Ratings on your favorite podcast player are also helpful in growing the audience. Visit chriscreuter.com for free downloadable PDFs with notes and resources from today's episode.
00:11:54
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Sign up for the CDWI mailing list or to send in your problems or requests for future shows. That's chriscreuter.com or use the link in the show notes.