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Some people might tell you that being creative means working entirely without rules. They're wrong. Not just because everything has rules (and while rules were made to be broken, the secret to art is knowing when to break them), but because there is a truly important rule behind all creative work, one that nobody will ever tell you but which everyone knows, even if they don't follow it.
Nobody gives a shit what you think.
We all have beliefs and opinions. It's part of sentience. Only drones don't disagree with anybody. What people don't want is to be told other people's opinions and beliefs at gunpoint. And when you're an artist, you're holding a gun to your audience's head. When you pull the trigger, you're hitting their emotions.
As Tuco put it, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."
I used to know an artist named Agent Elrond (not her real name, of course, she just thought she was being clever). Not a bad artist, but my gods, she would go on and on about what she thought, both in her art and her description of said art. I don't think I would have minded so much if she didn't favor censorship, but that's another story. The fact remains: her (nominal) skill as an artist was tainted and destroyed by her inability to keep her mouth shut.
When did people start hating System of a Down? When they turned their concerts into lectures.
Which Saw movies are least popular? The ones that rant about health insurance. Almost nobody likes 99% of Saw V (the last percent is the ending, the one part people adore).
Why is Spec Ops: The Line such a divisive game? Because it won't shut the fuck up.
I could go on, but the point's made. The more you inject your own views into a creative project, the more you weaken it. Nobody gives a shit what you think.
Nobody gives a shit what you think.
We all have beliefs and opinions. It's part of sentience. Only drones don't disagree with anybody. What people don't want is to be told other people's opinions and beliefs at gunpoint. And when you're an artist, you're holding a gun to your audience's head. When you pull the trigger, you're hitting their emotions.
As Tuco put it, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."
I used to know an artist named Agent Elrond (not her real name, of course, she just thought she was being clever). Not a bad artist, but my gods, she would go on and on about what she thought, both in her art and her description of said art. I don't think I would have minded so much if she didn't favor censorship, but that's another story. The fact remains: her (nominal) skill as an artist was tainted and destroyed by her inability to keep her mouth shut.
When did people start hating System of a Down? When they turned their concerts into lectures.
Which Saw movies are least popular? The ones that rant about health insurance. Almost nobody likes 99% of Saw V (the last percent is the ending, the one part people adore).
Why is Spec Ops: The Line such a divisive game? Because it won't shut the fuck up.
I could go on, but the point's made. The more you inject your own views into a creative project, the more you weaken it. Nobody gives a shit what you think.
