Late night rant

I often see artists of all ages bemoaning the lack of attention their work is getting, blaming it on external factors like algorithms, low demand for original content, or people liking NSFW stuff more cause we're all horny har har

This mindset upsets me 1/

As artists, many of us want external recognition. That's natural and even healthy. Wanting a connection with others is a very human thing. It validates our efforts and is a nice way to know we're not alone in our tastes and thoughts 2/

In trying to get this recognition, we have to overcome countless hurdles. Technically refining our craft. Honing in on our true interests. Finding like minded communities. Figuring out what the heck marketing is. Etc 3/

When we inevitably fail to get recognition, we have to analyze all these vectors. Figure out what is holding us back.

"I need to post at 7:00pm when people are checking their media to maximize screen time"

"If I did furry porn, everyone would be paying me" 4/

While this is all important to consider, none of it matters nearly as much as considering what you can improve in your product. And yes, your art is a product if you're looking for external recognition. (Anyone doing art for themselves and are happy with that, you do you) 5/

The most unfortunate and common thing I see are the artists that are just starting their art journey screaming about how their work is being overshadowed or overlooked just because of some external factor.

I've seen their work, and I don't mean this in a malicious way, but: 6/

Your work isn't very good yet.

And that's okay, seriously.

What I'm trying to say is that people need to refine their craft a lot more before they can begin to see how the other variables are affecting their exposure. Before they can start complaining about being unnoticed 7/

Focusing so intently on performance metrics. Wishing some big account would retweet you. Watching intently at your follower count go from 45 to 47 to 46 again and killing yourself about why that person left. 8/

This mindset upsets me so much.

It upsets me because it's an albatross around our necks, and it pains me to watch so many future artists throw in the towel because they're not getting rewarded with enough likes

I assure you, we all still have so much room to grow 9/9

tldr

Stop focusing on outside factors like metrics and art topics before you have more polished work. Doing so only stunts your growth by breeding resentment and wasting time

I know this feeling well because not only do I see it all the time, I have to fight it within myself even today. While my work is better now than it was before, there's still so much more I can improve upon, and giving too much weight to all the external stuff slows me down