Most creative projects have two distinct phases:
- Make it. On your own.
- Share it. With the world.
The bridge between phase 1 and 2 is a tiny, gigantic step: showing it to someone.
Showing the creative work to one person can be scarier than going from that person to an entire audience. It’s the first moment that the creative work has to stand on its own, not held up by your imagination. It can be a harbinger of how it’s going to be received, and it is usually in the hands of someone whose opinion you trust above most others.
But if you can learn to make friends with that tiny step, it gets a lot easier to ship your creative work. Here are three ways I’ve learned to help me through this step.
- Wait sufficient time. With sufficient time, I am no longer as tied to the specific creative decisions; I am ready to accept criticism and praise more generously.
- Promise it ahead of time. Knowing that I’ve committed to sharing the work puts me on the line for actually doing it.
- Lower the stakes. I remember that no creative work has defined my life, and they have always led to more creative works. The pressure I feel to make this creative work perfect and important diminishes and with it, the fear of sharing it diminishes.
- Build in time for revision. If I know I’ve got time to reimagine the work after I’ve shared it with one person, I’m able to create with more confidence, and share with more ease.