Creativity Needs Monsters

It's time to let them in...

You ever been scared shitless?

Eyes wide open, stomach in your throat with your arm hairs pointing to the sky?

If you haven’t, you gotta try it. It humbles you real quick.

In an instant, the stories you’ve told yourself about being tough and resilient fade away, leaving behind the child you’ve always been, still unsure about their place in this world.

It’s brutal, but it’s the secret to making great content.

Vulnerability is good for the soul.

Humans aren’t perfect. We make mistakes, and oftentimes don’t learn from them. We overcompensate for perceived slights, and present ourselves to friends, family and online as though we have it all figured out.

But we haven’t. Not really.

The thing is, not only is that okay, it’s important.

Hiding our vulnerability is the common denominator of human experience. Revealing your vulnerability is like being a candle in the dark. It’s not that you’re inherently weak or fragile, it’s recognizing that you can be at times.

The moment you let that kind of honesty into your creative process, you become the creator you need to be.

Go back and watch early videos of your favorite content creator and you’ll find a different person looking back at you.

Yes, they were younger and inexperienced, but more importantly they didn’t know how to be themselves on camera yet. They didn’t understand that confidence without scars is just arrogance that hasn’t been challenged.

Your primary goal as a content creator should be to challenge yourself without destroying your confidence. Find the gaps in your armor so you can be better prepared for the battles ahead.

While there are many ways to do this, my favorite is almost never talked about — read horror stories.

When you read horror, you invite monsters into your world. Unlike nightmares, you give them permission to get close, which is exactly what they do.

There’s no where to run when reading a horror story. It doesn’t matter how tough or smart you are, your fate is the exact same as the characters.

Their pain is your pain. Their fear is your fear.

Horror stories reveal the good, the bad, and the disturbing of human nature. They strip away our armor, leaving us vulnerable and exposed.

I take note when my heart skips a beat and I lean closer to the page.

I pay attention when I relate to a character that is obviously going to pay for their mistakes.

I embrace the discomfort I feel when things inevitably go wrong.

This vulnerability is precious, and difficult to safely explore through different methods. It’s like a cheat code for understanding the human condition, and it’s the secret ingredient missing from your creative process.

The sooner you can be vulnerable with your audience, the faster your community will grow. Viewers will relate to your discomfort and mistakes, and you’ll worry less as you show more of them to the world.

I promise, humility will look good on you. All you need to do, is go pick up a book, and scare yourself shitless.