creativity

Seeking Appeal

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Many writers harbor that dream of creating the work everyone loves.  Many writers also have the dream of creating a work that connects intimately with others.  Finally, most writers find that reconciling these – let’s call them Broad Appeal and Personal Appeal – is a nightmare in practice.

Yet some works manage to have both Broad and Personal Appeal – let us call it Universal Appeal.  Those rare movies and books are things we all treasure, for we can enjoy them by ourselves and share them with others.  Some creators break through the barrier, and we wonder why (we’re not jealous, right?).

This issue has been going around in my head for a while.  My tastes for media have evolved lately, and I’m trying to understand them.  This Broad, Personal, and Universal appeal are whirling about in my mind, so join me in an attempt to understand my thoughts.

Thoughts On Broad Appeal

Media with Broad Appeal are those works that interest many people but may not be particularly intimate.  They’re enjoyable or insightful, but most of the audience doesn’t experience that connection that drives people to obsess over or plumb a work.  We’ve all had that movie or show where your reaction is, “yeah it’s good, nice to share that with others.”

Broad Appeal is not bad.  I would argue the near-endless Marvel Films tend towards the Broad Appeal category, but most are good to extremely well-crafted.  There is a place for Broad Appeal because it lets you share the experience.

I can understand why some people focus on writing things with Broad Appeal.  It makes money and you get lots of people who like it – and both are great!  However, it seems to take effort to reach that level of Broad Appeal, or one may crave the intimacy of Personal Appeal.

Thoughts On Personal Appeal

Media with the Personal Appeal are works that connect deeply with a set of people but aren’t “for everyone.”  The right audience has a deep experience because they truly “get it.”  I’m sure you’ve had that book or comic or show where you loved it but found it impossible to share.

Personal Appeal is not exclusionary.  It’s just that you have to be the kind of person who it’s made for, who connects with it.  Some stuff just isn’t for you – something I get to with my large library of philosophy, little of which I can safely say “yeah you’ll dig THIS translation . . .”

Personal Appeal seems to be easy for some people to write – create what you like or focus on a domain of specific knowledge.  Writing things with Personal Appeal also has an intimacy that is quite enjoyable, which I can say from personal experience.  Still, an author may want to have their work have a broader audience than they have . . .

Thoughts On Universal Appeal

Universal Appeal is that rare work that appeals to a wide audience and reaches people’s depths.  Everyone (or at least a lot of people) can enjoy it and feel a deep, inspiring, life-altering connection.  It’s the work everyone talks about and will be considered classic decades or centuries down the road.  For many authors, it’s the hope – getting paid and reaching people.

There are a few works I’d put in this area.  Historically, one example is the Tao Te Ching, the “life-changing evening read” which has reached people for aeons.  More recently, Lord of the Rings fits this category – I’ve been through multiple revivals in my own lifetime.  I’m sure you have others.

Universal Appeal is a challenge.  I don’t think it can be calculated or planned.  It may be something that just happens, and creators may just have to live with that.

Our Journey

I find I rather like this taxonomy.  It’d doubtlessly oversimplified, but it gives me ways to think about works for the future.

I hope this gives you things to consider – which means I hope it has Broad Appeal . . .

Steven Savage

Duty Calls, Should Have Gone To Voicemail

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Note, I will return to my writing lessons from video games soon.  I’ve just had a lot of other inspirations lately.

At the start of the Christmas holiday, I had games to play, writing to do, a chance to pre-read Serdar’s next novel (spoiler, excellent), and much more.  I also had no desire to do any of these awesome things.

So I waited a week, then pushed myself.  I pushed myself through returning to work.  I pushed myself on my time off.  I even pushed myself to game, figuring something would be enjoyable.

Instead, everything I did felt like work most of the time, even things I enjoyed.  I didn’t seem to be depressed or down, just put upon.  No one was ordering me to do all this except me.

There’s a point where we turn wanting to do something into having to do something.  We truly care about something, but we build so much schedule and ritual around it that our core urge is lost.  Must replaces want.

For me, it was a feeling I had to do everything.  I had to stay on my schedule.  I had to get things done for friends and writing groups, etc.  No one told me I had to but me.  So it was time to change that.

I gave myself permission to drop anything or everything over the MLK weekend, and thought over what I wanted during a long walk.  In a day, my desires to read and create came back, I’d found the reasons I was doing these things by not doing them.  Now I find myself happier and more productive, and I’m even altering my plans for 2022.

(Interesting note, my urge to play video games came back last.  I suspect it’s changed and may write more on that).

You’ve probably had moments like this yourself.  Please, take a break and take time to reconnect with why you do things.  There’s no reason to loose yourself trying to do things, and you won’t get them done anyway.

Steven Savage

My Journey, Your Journey

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Serdar wrote a must-read blog post on the question “When do you know what you’re doing”?  When are you doing your own thing, when are you not stuck in “tutorial hell,” and so forth.  These are great questions, and I’d like to explain when I know what I’m doing.

I don’t think of it that way.  Instead, I just keep going and learning.

For instance, when I wrote A Bridge to the Quiet Planet, I wanted to get back into writing fiction.  I decided to write three novels and simply get better at it by doing it.  As I write I learn, and of course I read, study, and consult with fellow writers.  The sequel, A School of Many Futures was certainly a leap over the first novel on all accounts.

My worldbuilding books are journeys as well.  Sure, I’ve got them down to a science, but each one is another learning experience, especially in terms of subject matter.  As of late, desiring to improve my nonfiction writing, I’m working on developing a more organized “system” for nonfiction.  Another leg of a journey that doesn’t end.

This is probably the influence of Agile on my mindset, but I’ve always been a “do it and keep going” type of person.  It also means I never expect to “arrive” anywhere, just reach a plateau before the next climb. I don’t think I know what I’m doing, I just keep learning more and doing it.

Sometimes I do decide to quit a project or turn it into something else.  That’s just the way life is.  It’s not a failure, it’s a learning experience, it’s spare parts, it’s re-prioritizing.  My journey takes a slightly different path.

This isn’t superior to the answers Serdar gets (which is best summed up by reading his post).  This is what works for me, that journey of milestones, new goals always coming, pace changing, but in motion.  In fact, this milestone-but-journey method isn’t even applied to all of my life.  Different goals for different things, and it’s a difference I own and that is my responsibility.

Creatives – or anyone with aspirations, really – ultimately have to ask themselves the question how do I approach competency?  It’s an important question, and one you’ll have to find the answer to.  I can’t tell you what the answer is, nor can Serdar, or anyone you know.  Anyone else trying to sell you a set of goals is delusional at best and wants something at worst.

So tell me how you measure success, how you stake out your creative goals.  You know me, I’m on an eternal journey, and I’d love to learn.

Steven Savage