E.B., I am so sorry it has taken me this long to read through and coment upon this piece. I wanted to be in a place mentally where I could sit in it (I love this about your writing). First of all, thank you. Thank you so fucking much. Not just for your support or mention of me and my work, but for being you. For being a part of this community you speak of. For sharing these parts of yourself. For endlessly supporting, encouraging, and promoting the work of others. Your soul is as beautiful as your writing, I hope you know.
Side note: I absolutely love the interruption mid-piece you've shared here. Ugh. Just UGH. Per usual, your words are FELT within.
Again, I am so honored for the shoutout, thank you so much! As a smaller artist/writer it's genuinely wild to me to hear I have inspired someone. Also even wilder because poetry is a new form to me; it's something I only startrd exploring last year because of - wait for it - being inspired by those who did it before I could. It's incredible what the creative current does, and eye-opening for me in the case of this letter.
Q1: Kinda hard for me to pinpoint now that I think about it. Or maybe the answer has always been there. I am more of a fan fiction writer, and there's much that influence and inspire me - video games, movies, books; even fanfics of other incredible writers. I suppose every day conversations influence me as well, because it's through conversations that you get to learn about people sometimes,and I absently take note of those as I strive to write believable and grounded characters who have a story or two to tell in the type fiction I enjoy writing.
Q2: To be honest, I've never really thought about it. I mean, I write fanfics for myself and I just draw whenever I could - it's all hobbies (intensely passionate ones), and these so-called hobbies allow me to do as I please without really thinking about gatekeeping and societal pressure. I am aware they exist, but due to my lone wolf nature (I typically avoid groups because I can never seem to fit in well) I consider myself removed from it all at the moment. If there comes a time I take this to a professional level, I'm gonna have to think about that because it might be an inevitable thing. I genuinely don't know.
Q3: At some point in my life, I have. But due to the nature of the genre I work with, originality isn't the name of the game. We're just fans constantly inspiring one another, trying to explore themes and executing things differently, and it has helped me stop thinking about originality. Sometimes it randomly comes to me, but then it just vanishes. I think there is incredible value in being a fan artist in a sense that it just doesn't really matter a lot of the time. You do what you do and if you love it, you've done it. But again, I may be lucky enough to avoid drama about it if there's any. I just contribute and leave it at that.
Q4: Do video essays about games count? 😅 It's where I find them most of the time. Video games are my greatest love, and it's amazing to be stumbling across essays online about exploring the themes of a game like they're academic studies. Specific discussions about creativity on games abandon me at the moment, but a lot of the time it's where I find such discussions since I am a devotee of the art form. They're my biggest influence/inspiration.
I'm so sorry if this was too long, but I really love this letter to much. Again, thank you for both the shoutout and sharing this regardless. This has given so much to think about.
I just also wanted to add that I also avoid groups because I've witnessed toxicity before, and even though I was lucky enough to just be a witness, it really did my love for something dirty. It became hard to enjoy things when you know people are fighting over something that shouldn't be fought over. In my case, as lonely as it may sound, keeping to my own little bubble has helped my creativity. But in the future I'd love to be a part of a community that is welcoming - and I think being involved with a community of artists who create diverse art with diverse interests is much better.
This is so interesting! Part of me wonders if competitiveness is inherent to being around people doing the same type of work/art? Or is this learned/societal behavior? Thank you for sharing your thoughts here, Nic. It gives me a lot to consider. I will say, being around artists who make different types of art than I do & celebrating eachother’s accomplishments has been incredibly healing. I’m also in community with some great writers, so every time they excel, I get to make a choice: am I going to be jealous of their success or am I going to celebrate in their success with them? I’ve been choosing celebration every time and it feels so good. In my personal experience, my own creativity has become more bountiful. Fuck jealousy, there’s room for us all! But it definitely has taken intentionality (and age lol) for me to get here.
I find the question of competitiveness really hard to answer lmao it's been so ingrained in our heads long before we're all born that it's difficult to tell if it's learned or just something that happens naturally. I cannot wait for the time where I can put this all behind me, because while I love celebrating other artists' success, there are just times that catch me off-guard I guess, you know? Especially when you're in that particularly bad day and all you want is just a moment of peace - the success of others somehow reminds me of my own failures, and it can be hard to push the negative feelings away. But I'd rather celebrate than sulk - I'm looking forward to that day when the bad times will not affect me anymore. Gotta keep reminding myself that the success of one doesn't equate to my failure, and my failure is another push towards success - whatever that may look like :')
Hi! Thanks for the shoutout to my newsletter. I love how you speak to the concept of originality. I didn’t even think about how individualistic it is but you’re right. Ideas don’t happen in a vacuum and it’s good to celebrate our collective accomplishments rather than trying to be the one.
Of course! I've never used the tag feature in Substack before, and I wanted to give it a try. I always enjoy the conversations you start in your posts. Yes, lately I've been considering this concept of originality a lot because it's one of the most prevalent and seems to be perceived as one of the harshest criticisms we see out there for writers. It exists everywhere--I've been a public school teacher and a corporate worker, and I see how the hierarchy uses this concept (and concepts similar to originality) to create internal competition. Only so many people can be promoted and make the big bucks, you know? But I think out here in the broader scope of the world, in the arts especially, it serves us better to have discussions, inspire one another, and elevate each other, especially when we see similarities in our work.
Yes, under the individualist system, we are led to forget that everybody can win. Everyone can benefit from the ideas of others and have others benefit from our input as well. It’s something that I need to unlearn myself. You’re a great writer!
Thank you for including me in your community, I'm also inspired by your work and you. I relate to your writing, and it pushes me to wind my way to visual representation.
I think that every artist seeks inspiration, or perhaps we simply notice that we are inspired and feel compelled to act. I find myself heavily influenced by writers and musicians. And I find myself avoiding other artists who I feel might influence me to strongly. There are several painters who I won't observe, and types of process videos I choose not to watch. My art has a commonality with their work and it's too easy to copy rather than create.
I chase feelings around the studio. So I can interpret them into images. I have created several series directly influenced by others, not visual artists though. I'm not worried about copywrite, or even terribly concerned if others copy me. I want to be creating with my lens intact, so that I create what I envision.
That you used the word tendrils is so exciting, I think you see me very clearly. For this I'm thankful 🥰
Honored beyond honor to be included in your article (thank you a thousand times) and pretty darn happy to see the people I'm grouped with. Amazing.
I love love love the word “reinterpreted” for this concept. We all come to an idea with such varied experiences and frameworks, it’s impossible for us to expand on something and keep it exactly the same as we found it (except for plagiarism, obviously, but that’s totally different conversation and not what I meant here!)
E.B., I am so sorry it has taken me this long to read through and coment upon this piece. I wanted to be in a place mentally where I could sit in it (I love this about your writing). First of all, thank you. Thank you so fucking much. Not just for your support or mention of me and my work, but for being you. For being a part of this community you speak of. For sharing these parts of yourself. For endlessly supporting, encouraging, and promoting the work of others. Your soul is as beautiful as your writing, I hope you know.
Side note: I absolutely love the interruption mid-piece you've shared here. Ugh. Just UGH. Per usual, your words are FELT within.
Again, I am so honored for the shoutout, thank you so much! As a smaller artist/writer it's genuinely wild to me to hear I have inspired someone. Also even wilder because poetry is a new form to me; it's something I only startrd exploring last year because of - wait for it - being inspired by those who did it before I could. It's incredible what the creative current does, and eye-opening for me in the case of this letter.
Q1: Kinda hard for me to pinpoint now that I think about it. Or maybe the answer has always been there. I am more of a fan fiction writer, and there's much that influence and inspire me - video games, movies, books; even fanfics of other incredible writers. I suppose every day conversations influence me as well, because it's through conversations that you get to learn about people sometimes,and I absently take note of those as I strive to write believable and grounded characters who have a story or two to tell in the type fiction I enjoy writing.
Q2: To be honest, I've never really thought about it. I mean, I write fanfics for myself and I just draw whenever I could - it's all hobbies (intensely passionate ones), and these so-called hobbies allow me to do as I please without really thinking about gatekeeping and societal pressure. I am aware they exist, but due to my lone wolf nature (I typically avoid groups because I can never seem to fit in well) I consider myself removed from it all at the moment. If there comes a time I take this to a professional level, I'm gonna have to think about that because it might be an inevitable thing. I genuinely don't know.
Q3: At some point in my life, I have. But due to the nature of the genre I work with, originality isn't the name of the game. We're just fans constantly inspiring one another, trying to explore themes and executing things differently, and it has helped me stop thinking about originality. Sometimes it randomly comes to me, but then it just vanishes. I think there is incredible value in being a fan artist in a sense that it just doesn't really matter a lot of the time. You do what you do and if you love it, you've done it. But again, I may be lucky enough to avoid drama about it if there's any. I just contribute and leave it at that.
Q4: Do video essays about games count? 😅 It's where I find them most of the time. Video games are my greatest love, and it's amazing to be stumbling across essays online about exploring the themes of a game like they're academic studies. Specific discussions about creativity on games abandon me at the moment, but a lot of the time it's where I find such discussions since I am a devotee of the art form. They're my biggest influence/inspiration.
I'm so sorry if this was too long, but I really love this letter to much. Again, thank you for both the shoutout and sharing this regardless. This has given so much to think about.
I just also wanted to add that I also avoid groups because I've witnessed toxicity before, and even though I was lucky enough to just be a witness, it really did my love for something dirty. It became hard to enjoy things when you know people are fighting over something that shouldn't be fought over. In my case, as lonely as it may sound, keeping to my own little bubble has helped my creativity. But in the future I'd love to be a part of a community that is welcoming - and I think being involved with a community of artists who create diverse art with diverse interests is much better.
This is so interesting! Part of me wonders if competitiveness is inherent to being around people doing the same type of work/art? Or is this learned/societal behavior? Thank you for sharing your thoughts here, Nic. It gives me a lot to consider. I will say, being around artists who make different types of art than I do & celebrating eachother’s accomplishments has been incredibly healing. I’m also in community with some great writers, so every time they excel, I get to make a choice: am I going to be jealous of their success or am I going to celebrate in their success with them? I’ve been choosing celebration every time and it feels so good. In my personal experience, my own creativity has become more bountiful. Fuck jealousy, there’s room for us all! But it definitely has taken intentionality (and age lol) for me to get here.
I find the question of competitiveness really hard to answer lmao it's been so ingrained in our heads long before we're all born that it's difficult to tell if it's learned or just something that happens naturally. I cannot wait for the time where I can put this all behind me, because while I love celebrating other artists' success, there are just times that catch me off-guard I guess, you know? Especially when you're in that particularly bad day and all you want is just a moment of peace - the success of others somehow reminds me of my own failures, and it can be hard to push the negative feelings away. But I'd rather celebrate than sulk - I'm looking forward to that day when the bad times will not affect me anymore. Gotta keep reminding myself that the success of one doesn't equate to my failure, and my failure is another push towards success - whatever that may look like :')
Hi! Thanks for the shoutout to my newsletter. I love how you speak to the concept of originality. I didn’t even think about how individualistic it is but you’re right. Ideas don’t happen in a vacuum and it’s good to celebrate our collective accomplishments rather than trying to be the one.
Of course! I've never used the tag feature in Substack before, and I wanted to give it a try. I always enjoy the conversations you start in your posts. Yes, lately I've been considering this concept of originality a lot because it's one of the most prevalent and seems to be perceived as one of the harshest criticisms we see out there for writers. It exists everywhere--I've been a public school teacher and a corporate worker, and I see how the hierarchy uses this concept (and concepts similar to originality) to create internal competition. Only so many people can be promoted and make the big bucks, you know? But I think out here in the broader scope of the world, in the arts especially, it serves us better to have discussions, inspire one another, and elevate each other, especially when we see similarities in our work.
Yes, under the individualist system, we are led to forget that everybody can win. Everyone can benefit from the ideas of others and have others benefit from our input as well. It’s something that I need to unlearn myself. You’re a great writer!
Thank you for including me in your community, I'm also inspired by your work and you. I relate to your writing, and it pushes me to wind my way to visual representation.
I think that every artist seeks inspiration, or perhaps we simply notice that we are inspired and feel compelled to act. I find myself heavily influenced by writers and musicians. And I find myself avoiding other artists who I feel might influence me to strongly. There are several painters who I won't observe, and types of process videos I choose not to watch. My art has a commonality with their work and it's too easy to copy rather than create.
I chase feelings around the studio. So I can interpret them into images. I have created several series directly influenced by others, not visual artists though. I'm not worried about copywrite, or even terribly concerned if others copy me. I want to be creating with my lens intact, so that I create what I envision.
That you used the word tendrils is so exciting, I think you see me very clearly. For this I'm thankful 🥰
Honored beyond honor to be included in your article (thank you a thousand times) and pretty darn happy to see the people I'm grouped with. Amazing.
I love love love the word “reinterpreted” for this concept. We all come to an idea with such varied experiences and frameworks, it’s impossible for us to expand on something and keep it exactly the same as we found it (except for plagiarism, obviously, but that’s totally different conversation and not what I meant here!)