First - to be clear - this is a message to myself primarily and I think it will help you too.
One of my favorite things to tell people (especially when dealing with social media or online publications) is to publish more than you consume. Put your work (and thoughts) out there on an equal or higher rate than that which you ingest. Your work is important. As important, if not more so, than the common materials you are consuming every day. Reset your equilibrium.
What do I mean by this?
Sometimes I need to remind myself to broadcast my thoughts and actions. A lot of times we like to hold back and wait until something is perfect before we let anyone see what we are working on - stop it.
You've heard the idiom "perfect is the opposite of done."
Well, it gets worse. While you are busy perfecting your {insert project here}, someone else has a similar idea and they aren't so precious about it. They publish it in progress and all the way up through the finish. They become known for that project. They get accolades. Meanwhile, you seethe that when you finally finish, you now look as though you copied them and didn't come up with the idea independently. Not only that, they have a bunch of traction now because they were building up the suspense and following. They are halfway around the track and you are just coming out of the starting gate.
But, but, but ... what if I start showing my "in progress" and then someone steals my idea?
Well, you have the published proof with publication dates that show you had the idea first. But even if someone does steal your idea - if you keep publishing about it during the progress, you are building your own momentum and you will have your fans ready to see it to it's completion. And if it turns out awesome, who cares who copies you, they would copy you after anyway, right?
What if it doesn't turn out well. Or what if it takes a really long time to complete?
Again, showing what you are doing, even if it never gets completed, may show what you are capable of or what you are thinking about and that may attract more attention and fans. It gives you content to post. Consistent publishing is a key to success on social media. You want that success so that you have a viewership to show your finished works when it is time to find the collectors.
This is a reminder to me to publish more blogs. To send more newsletters. I can be very busy and have a million ideas - but they are no good if no one ever sees them. And the same goes for you. You have the ideas. You have the sketches, or the lyrics, or the plans. But if you don't publish, someone else will think of something kinda similar and you will be the consumer. Be the publisher.
I can't wait to see or hear your ideas. I hope you will notice (and enjoy) that we will be publishing a lot more of ours.
~Kirby
Oh, and for those in my Curious Kirby Creatives group - it is not lost on me that I was worried about our collab idea. Yeah - that counts too. I'm human. I have these same inner battles that everyone else has - and I know that constant sharing and publicizing is key. So I won't be so damn precious about that either! And if you aren't in our group - join us on Facebook!