The Royal Family of Creation
The Royal Family Of Creation
I have been thinking a lot about creativity lately. With posting on this blog and producing a podcast, one starts to ponder what this journey is all about. Now, there is no doubt that talent goes a long way. There is no quicker method to success than to be talented. Yet, for the rest of us, there are still varied paths to create an impact on whichever platform we choose. I can’t sell myself as an expert. There are far too skilled and expert people out there who do it better than I. But if you want to be successful in this innovative space, you have to be familiar with the royal family of creation.
What the heck am I talking about?
Content is King
The royal family of creation would not be complete without a king. And content is king. Hands down, your creative endeavors (whether blogging, podcasting, vlogging, etc.) will both begin and end with good content. if you don’t have something to say, a story to tell, or a viewpoint to espouse, your audience will be staring into a big pot of nothing.
It sounds easy at first. We all come to a these projects with preformed ideas. The spice, however, dries up quickly without a concerted effort to grow and evolve.
I knew that I was coming to an already saturated market in personal finance when I started this blog. But I also knew that I was in the process of a unique journey to half retirement, and my writing would be much more about the philosophical underpinnings of change as much as about the nuts and bolts of personal finance.
It’s taken me time to develop this voice.
Intention is Queen
In the royal family of creation, content cannot and must not stand alone. Content fails. Words are misinterpreted, taken out of context, or simply fail to convey adequate meaning. As creators we all stumble sometimes. In fact, in almost any endeavor, whether in relationships or W2 jobs, we are prone to ups and downs.
We all know that we are only as good as our last blog or podcast. Except that we are not. Intention is the tie the binds us to our community. It is the sacred pact between creator and consumer. Almost anything is forgivable if intentions are aligned appropriately.
Intentions show clearly through content. Spammy advertisements and guerrilla marketing often don’t play well. But a creator will be allowed a reasonable amount of leeway if intention is judged to be good.
Authenticity and Amplification Are Princes
The royal family of creation would not be complete without a pair of princes.
Authenticity is the clearness of the voice, the durability of the creator’s truth, and the proof of concept that we all yearn for. A lack of authenticity will turn eyes away faster than almost any other damaging flaw. A creator has to show up and present their authentic version of truth for all to consider.
It doesn’t have to be right, or clean, or pretty to look at. But it has to be genuine.
Amplification
The royal family of creation would not be successful without the family loud mouth. No matter how wonderful, well-intentioned, or authentic your message is, it won’t do if no one hears it.
Social media and the internet have made it easy. Sort of. Yet, in these realms, often intention and authenticity can be bastardized.
More pitfalls to be traversed.
Final Thoughts
In today’s world, creativity is more important than ever. Whether blogging, podcasting, vlogging, or whatever medium catches your fancy, it is important to remember the royal family of creation. Creating great content with intentionality and authenticity is automatically successful right out of the box.
Then all one needs is a great amplifier.
I had never thought about creativity this way, but it make sense. One of my writing teachers, Gordon Lish, the fiction editor of Esquire Magazine back when I was at Yale always emphasized that knowing how to write was insufficient, “You have to have something to say.” It was his opinion that few fiction writers had anything of substance to convey and hence weren’t worth reading. “Authenticity” harkens back to “write what you know.” “Intention” seems more related to the blogosphere where one has regular followers (hopefully). “Amplification” should be the domain of the marketing department, which these days tends to be the author…
Yes. Marketing is all the author. Both the bain and boon of the internet.
DocG,
Writing has gone back to something I once again do for myself. It is akin to my running. I have enjoyed running for almost 4 decades and I have never entered a race.
Doing anything for an ulterior motive or hope of a paycheck will always be a false dream. Especially once one has FI, what is the point?
Sometimes one needs to really define what is enough and attain some peace in their lives.
I think this idea of defining enough as a path to peace makes sense.
I’ll add two more audience interaction and interpretation . Interaction shines different lights on the topic bringing out otherwise unseen detail, it closes the loop between writer and reader and interpretation allows for a hermaneutic to be applied to a topic to spark other or deeper insight or non standard insight. Interaction and insight may be Knight and Knave
Both good points. Interaction builds community bonds and interpretation does lead to more content.