I’m trying a new format this week!
Personal Update
My family and I rented a cabin on the Deschutes River during Spring Break last week. We have rarely gone out in public during the pandemic. Most of our activities on our short vacation were outdoors. But we did visit one store—the last Blockbuster Video on Earth. (We wore masks and were socially distant.)
This nostalgia-fueled trip somehow unleashed a creative torrent inside of me. I’ll be sharing more of the results with you in the upcoming editions of the Weirdo Poetry newsletter.
Poetry Comics
Visual Essay
Lower the Stakes
If you want a bigger reaction from your audience, raise the stakes.
Your audience needs to know the hero is in danger. If there is no danger, the audience quickly loses interest in the story.
The greater the danger, the more suspense builds in the chests of the readers, viewers, and listeners.
Raising the stakes is critical for the audience.
But, raising the stakes is horrible for the artist.
Writer’s block and other creative blocks all come from the same place.
The artist has raised the stakes so much they are afraid to perform.
They have fallen too many times from the high wire and are sacred to walk out without a net.
As they should be.
But here’s the thing about creating art. You only need to raise the stakes inside of the story. You don’t have to raise the stakes for yourself.
The truth is, some of the best art comes once you learn to lower the stakes.
Keep the stakes low. If you don’t like the first word or the first sentence, you can always change them later. No worries.
If you don’t like the first line of your drawing, erase it, throw away the whole paper, or start drawing something different.
It doesn’t matter. Art isn’t life and death.
If you are struggling to create, lower the stakes.
What’s worst that can happen? You have to edit or erase?
That’s not so bad.
The revising and the touching up is where the real magic often happens anyway.
Save the danger and the drama for your characters and your audience.
Lower the stakes for yourself and watch your creativity soar like never before.
Notes:
Part of the inspiration for this essay comes from an episode of The Memory Palace Podcast, where the host Nate DiMeo gave a stunning eulogy of Carla Wallenda, of The Flying Wallendas fame.
The Memory Palace is my favorite podcast. There isn’t anything else like it. The episodes are brief, but the stories stay with you forever. You should try it.
Thanks for reading!
Be the weird you want to see in the world,
Jason