Dear Procrastinating Artist,

You’re not lazy, unmotivated, or behind. You’ve been misdiagnosing it as burnout, artist’s block, or lack of talent, and it’s causing you to entertain the idea of giving up. You’ve spent hours on Instagram “looking for inspo”, when in reality you’ve been silently comparing yourself to every artist on your timeline. Admiring, hoping that someday you’d be as good.

It’s not that you haven’t tried; you have. You have so many projects started and sketchbooks full of ideas, and those are just the ones you’ve gotten out. You’ve hit a point of feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to even start. And sometimes it’s more comfortable to do nothing than to try to do something because what if you fail? What if they don’t like it? What if it doesn’t go viral? What if it sucks? And you’ve been stuck chasing this fantasy because nobody ever told you that that’s not the goal.

The truth is the artists that you’ve been comparing yourself to have been in the same place you’re in. The only difference however, is that they didn’t give up. They persevered. If you don’t believe me, scroll to the bottom of your favorite creator or artist's page; if they still have their posts up from 2017, you’ll see what I mean.

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.” -Tim Notke

This idea of overnight success and blowing up or going viral, along with our short attention spans and wanting to take the shortcuts, has caused us to miss the process and what it produces.

And what if I were to tell you you’re not alone? There are so many artists sitting on their gifts and waiting until they "feel ready"; when had they just taken the first step, they’d probably be running by now. 

And I don’t say this as someone who has it all figured out, I still struggle with this myself. But I say this as an artist that has compared, condemned, and thrown in the towel more times than I’d like to admit.

But in the midst of that, something I realized is that all that did was set me back. This year I have really started to take my creativity seriously and began to wonder what would happen if I didn’t give up. So now I’m asking you the same question. What would it look like if you finished that project, posted that draft, or submitted that application?

Sometimes we are stuck “waiting for the perfect moment”, until we realize it’s never coming. Do it today. And even if you don’t see anything from it right now, remember good fruit takes time. You’ll learn more by trying than by thinking about trying. 

Yes, there is wisdom in preparation, but don’t let that fuel your procrastination. Don’t stay stuck.

Sincerely,

Another artist that’s just doing their best and taking it one step at a time