Are You A 21st Century Creative Entrepreneur? (Part One)

One thing I’ve always been conflicted by is the modern version of “work.” And I say “work” in quotation marks because I always defined work as something you do, and not some place you go.

But most of the modern world doesn’t agree with me.

No, they think work is something that happens in an office (or other location) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. If it doesn’t fit in that bubble, then you’re not really working.

Which means people who work from home or work for themselves in a non-office environment aren’t “really working.”

Don’t get me started on the things that piss me off about “work” (that’s coming in part two of this series!) The reason for this post, is to bring up a point that I came across in an article I found this morning.

Creative Types Need Freedom

If you’re a creative person, you know that creativity doesn’t happen in a box. There’s not a specific timeframe you can force on yourself to be creative. It’s not always easy to say: “I’m going to be creative during the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Mondays” and make it work.

Because creativity isn’t like that.

Even when you’re living in a creative flow, it still doesn’t really work like that.

Yes, there are some people who can put a timeframe on their creative work and make it happen. But for most creative types, you have to do your creative work at the time of day when you’re most inspired. And unfortunately, thanks to day jobs and other distractions, you don’t always get to be creative at your optimal time.

No, you usually have to settle for “whatever time you have left,” which leaves you forcing creativity upon yourself late at night when you’re so exhausted you’d be better off sleeping.

That’s why I highly recommend creative people really take a look at their careers (especially since your career is a Primary Food) and see where they’re at.

Are you happy? Do you look forward to work every day? Are you passionate about what you’re doing?

If you can’t answer “yes” to even one of those three questions, I think you’ve got a problem. Lucky for you, I’ve got the solution.

Being An Entreproducer

Maybe you never thought about working for yourself. Maybe you don’t think your creative projects are anything more than a hobby. But if you’re someone who sees potential and a future for your creative work, I highly recommend acting on it.

The very first article on the new blog, Entreproducer, called: Why the 21st Century Author Is An Internet Entrepreneur, really cemented in my mind the fact that writers need to become their own publishers. And not just book publishers, but publishers of all kinds of content. Anything that relates to your creative art and your goals in life.

The article basically shows how writers are out there making a living from their writing without having to deal with traditional publishers.

If you want your art to be more than a hobby, you need to start thinking of yourself as an entrepreneur, and not as a “part time painter” or “weekend musician.” You need to start seeing yourself and your art as your career. Once you can do that, you’ll be taking a huge leap toward making it happen.

If the idea of working for yourself scares you, that’s OK. Nothing worthwhile is easy or un-scary. But when you can get over that hump and really start to see the value in doing things your way, you’ll never want to go back.

I think the ideas presented in that article can really apply to any creative person and any type of art.

If you want to work for yourself, if you want to make your art your career, I say go for it. There’s no reason not to, especially in today’s do-it-yourself world where writers are making decent income selling books on Kindle and totally bypassing the traditional publishing route.

Sure, it might not be easy, and you’ll definitely work a lot harder than you would collecting a paycheck from some company. But in the end, you’ll be happier and your art will be out there for the world to see.

Don’t believe me?

Check out this “Quit Your Day Job” series on the Etsy.com blog. It profiles hundreds of Etsy sellers who have quit their day jobs to pursue their art full time.

Share With Us

Have you ever thought about quitting your day job to focus on making a living from your art? What’s stopping you?

In part two of this series, I tell you three reasons why you should consider self employment.

Image courtesy of fuzzcat

If you enjoyed this article, please share it so others can benefit too: