All creative people are in a soup. Some are in plain simple Tomato Soup while others are in the more interesting sounding Jade Sweet Corn Soup. But they are in a soup none the less. It is not necessary that they like soups therefore they are there. They like the occupation; the soup is the occupational hazard. Some can swim circles along the circumference of the soup bowl while others just drown in the whirlpool created at the centre.
But why are they in a soup? You ask. They are in a soup because of the unconventional nature of their produce. Unlike all other items on sale that have a definite process of production, the produce of a creative process has no definite process behind its existence. Therefore its monetary value is a victim of subjectivity.
Subjectivity is never easy to interpret, because unlike objectivity its not black and white, it is a mixture of both. Unlike toothbrushes a creative piece is not aimed at the mass market, but anyone using a toothbrush will comment on it. In such a situation the creator loses two things, one the feedback from the niche he was aiming at and two, his cool.
Sooner or later in their career every creative person wants their work to make the maximum impact. This can only happen by influencing a larger section of the society. To influence a larger section of the society it is important to collect and interpret their feedback. Subjective feedback is not easy to interpret and subject feedback on a piece of art is difficult to process and subjective feedback on a piece of art from a large number of sources is even more difficult to analyse and implement.
Even if all the above were to be done the biggest stumbling block is the creator. Since creative processes do not follow any established patterns the data becomes redundant. In such cases a whole-istic approach is necessary. A system that will help you be on the road.
Such a system was suggested by a wise man. All those who are in the business of generating something out of nothing will already be in the know of it. For those who are in the business but are foolish enough to ignore it, now is the time to start applying it in at lease small doses until you are convinced it works. For those in the dark about its existence, consider yourselves enlightened.
Use the following benchmark to gauge your success or the success of your work. For the success of your work will reflect your success.
Be open to feedback on your creation.
Of the positive feedback you receive, make a note
Of the negative feedback you receive, make a serious note
If you receive no feedback at all then panic!
Interpretation of the above
The positive feedback you receive is good. It tells you what is good about your creation, how people saw it and what they understood of it. The negative feedback you receive is of greater importance because it invariably points out what your creation lacks and what people were looking for in it and did not see. This is feedback in the true sense. Its always easy for a person to say ‘its good’ because on hearing ‘its good’ one does not ask for a reason. Rarely does anyone ask ‘why is it good?’ A person saying ‘its good’ does not necessarily have to know what he is talking about. But a person who says ‘its not good’ (or anything similar) knows what he is talking about, he is (at least) subconsciously prepared to answer ‘why is it not good?’ This person has given more thought to the creative produce then the one giving positive feedback.
More over, the negative feedback we receive is directly responsible for our improvement. The answer to ‘why is it not good’ will make us realise our limitations in skill or ability. As we realise out limitations we strive to overcome them. As we overcome our limitations we improve. Isn’t that what all creative people want to do – improve.
Positive and negative feedback, both are good because they have caused a reaction. Someone has seen or experienced your work and has shared what he/she experienced. It forms a closed loop of communication – you communicated something through your creative produce and someone influenced by that product has communicated back to you in the form of feedback.
Getting no feedback at all means your work has fail to creative an impact. Your communication has failed to reach its target. This does not mean the world is deaf, dumb and blind. It invariable means you have made a mistake in communicating. Your creative produce is a failure; which means that your creative processes are not in tune with the message you want to convey. It basically means that you are going to the wrong city on the wrong road.
So you can well imagine my happiness when I realised I was on the right road going to the right city! I mean howmany blogs are there which have inspired a post on another blog. Only a few. And amongst them, too, there are some which feel insecure when others comment on their posts. Amateurs I tell you! Chaiwalah is glad to be famous and is basking in the sunshine of fame.
I am gratified that a post on my blog has caused a reaction and another blogger has written her side of the story on her blog. To read her story click here.
Not only that, it also proves a few points I made in my previous post (‘Parrots Meet Carrot’). Let me repeat them here with a few adaptations to the context.
The involvement of Bhais is a boon to the blogging industry in more than one ways:
1. A free-flow of thoughts means more post can be made by bloggers
2. More posts means more use of talent and an opportunity to master your talent
3. Better the talent, better the blogging industry
4. Bloggers are forced to post certain posts which they would not have posted under ordinary circumstances. This increases their scope and breaks them free of (the copy-past old letters) stereotypes they are cast into.
5. The industry gets an external stimulus; and
6. Unlimited inspiration for years to come
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