Lee Crutchley - Nobody Knows What They’re Doing

I started writing this book a long time ago, when I decided to start freelancing. I did what most people do when they go it alone. I read a lot of books, listened to a lot of talks, and asked a lot of questions. I looked for information, and I hoped to find help.

I found a few small crumbs of wisdom here and there, but actual advice was strangely hard to come byand the more I looked, the less I found. The more specific my questions were, the more vague the answers became. A lot of the creative advice I found was superficial. If I scratched a little at the shiny veneer, inside was hollow. I began to wonder why all the useful things, the things that I actually needed to hear, were not being said. It began to feel like those things could be powerful secrets.

I later realized that there are obviously no powerful secrets. The reason nobody was, or still is, saying those things is a simple one. They often dont sound exciting or inspirational, so they dont sell. Advice, like most things in life, puts profit and popularity above everything else.

Advice only tells us what we want to hear, rather than what we need to. We want to know how to blow up on social media, not build a lasting career. We want to hear quick-fix secrets, not real-world direction. We want foolproof hacks for success, not the cold hard truth.

Its not entirely our fault that we have been conditioned to think and feel this way. We have been trained to connect with skin-deep aphorisms and turn away from heartfelt truths. We have been encouraged to dream big and stop sweating the small stuff. We have been urged to throw out anything that doesnt spark joy deep within us. We have been bombarded with claims that we dont need things like that in our lives anymore. But we do.

This type of advice could actually help us. By stripping away all of the thingsand there are manythat feel like barriers to a creative career. By offering us inspiration and encouragement, above all else. By letting us know that any of us can make it as an artist, no matter what. Instead, it has led to us being mollycoddled and duped.

We have been told too many times that all we have to do is turn up, and everything else will easily fall into place, but it wont. Now, more than ever, we need to listen again to all the advice that doesnt make a profit. We need to read between the lines and look past the slogans.

Im going to tell you some of those unsaid things in this book. If youre used to the shiny optimism of being told to Do What You Love, or the hollow positivity of living Good Vibes Only, it may be a tough read. It is not that. But I want you to finish this book with more things that can help you than things you can share on Instagram.

I have no quick fixes, life hacks, or foolproof routines that will guarantee success. I have no idea how you become an instafamous influencer. I have no plan to guarantee you can get a book deal. All I have, and all I know, are ten thingsten things nobody else will tell you.

You have probably already realized why nobody else will tell you the things that I am going to. Telling you that you suck is not the best way to start a book, but Im sorry to confirm that its true. You suck compared with your peers, compared with everyone you love, and especially compared with your future self.

The good news is they all suck, too, or will, eventually. Everyone sucks. Even your future self will one day suck in comparison to your future-future self.

At some point in the future you will look back at the work youre making right nowsome, maybe even all of itand think that its garbage. It might not happen for a few months, or even a few years. It might happen in just a few minutes. But one thing is certain, it will happen, and none of your work will be immune to this thought.

Even the most amazing and wonderful piece of art you have ever created could, and probably will, in time be reduced to one single thought: Ugh, this sucks.

That may sound deflating and depressing but it can and should be a wonderful realization. It means that you no longer have to worry about being amazing all the time, or even at all. You know that you are going to make bad work from time to time, and it genuinely doesnt matter.

Artists face an ever-increasing pressure to be consistent content creators. Content is art, obviously, but content is also very different. Content must be authentic, shareable, current, funny, clever, well-executed, relatable, self-deprecating (but without wallowing in self-pity), and of course a wonderful piece of finished artwork.

I could tell you to simply not let yourself be sucked into that pressure. I could tell you that it is often imagined and self-inflicted, that you can even choose to remove yourself from it. But who am I kidding? If you want to be an artist today who earns a living, and isnt forgotten, making art is rarely enough. You also have to share it.

But (and thats a very big but), you dont have to obey The Rules of Social Media for Artists. Those rules are nothing more than shots in the dark. They are completely made up, often by people who know no more than you about becoming a social media star. In fact, artists who do have large social media followings rarely know how those followers found them. In almost every instance they were simply sharing work they loved to make, and one day something unknowable clicked.

Certain rules can definitely help you be more productive. Forcing yourself to post something creative every day can help you to build momentum, and to figure out your style. But those rules only work if they work for you.

Even if it feels like the opposite is true, you dont have to consistently churn out work daily, and each piece doesnt have to be better than the last. You dont have to only share work that is finished and shiny. You dont have to spend hours stylizing a photo of your morning coffee and sketchbook, just to prove youre still alive.

Its okay if you dont post every day, regardless of whether you have anything you actually want to share. Its okay if you post more photos of pizza than works of art. Its okay to make up your own social media rules entirely, and then break those rules as often as you like.

The truth is that social media numbers dont matter all that much in general. Those numbers can and will obviously help you get noticed, maybe even help you find work and commissions. But they are not as important as were led to believe. At least, they dont equal automatic success. They are not a reliable or healthy way to measure your work, your worth, or anything else for that matter.