A Majority of Making Art Is Boring and Tedious (And You Need To Get Used To That)

We've all experience that New Relationship Energy. You know, when everything is fresh, and new, and every day is full of discovery and excitement? Sometimes that energy lasts for a couple of weeks. Sometimes it sticks around for a few months, or in some cases for a year or so. However, that heady sensation eventually passes. When it does we face a choice; seek out that same high somewhere else, or commit to where we are right now, and work on actively building the relationship we're already part of.

A lot of people talk about how it feels like the spark died. About how the color went out of things. They pine for the days when everything was new, and exciting... but they overlook an important truth. A majority of what makes relationships work isn't extreme chemical reactions, and potent attraction; it's commitment. It's adjusting your life to one another's eccentricities, it's doing chores when they need done, it's finding solutions to problems so you can both live easier lives. It isn't sexy, and it often isn't fun, but it's the thing you need to do in order to build a life.

Now use this as a metaphor for art, and how it's made.

Most of it is blood, sweat, and tears, instead of glitter and rainbows.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

The Results Are Sexy (The Process Isn't)

Making art in all its forms, whether it's plotting a story, conceptualizing a podcast, painting a painting, getting ready to animate something, and so on, and so forth, often have a New Relationship Energy phase as well. After all, when the idea or concept is fresh it's got a power and pull that can be compelling and exciting. You're going through the early stages building a world, or sketching out a rough idea, figuring out how you're going to turn it into a reality, all of that.

But the longer the process goes on, the less of that initial excitement there's going to be. Oh you'll still have moments where you come up with a really great turn of phrase that you're proud of, or you figure out a solution to a sound effect that was giving you problems, but between that whirlwind of Initial Excitement and Project Completion you just have a long stretch of Execution.

And Execution isn't fun. It isn't sexy. It isn't glamorous. It's the artistic equivalent of doing the dishes, throwing in the laundry, putting the baby down for a nap, walking the dog, and all the other necessary chores you have to do. It's boring... but if you don't do it, the art doesn't get made.

Consider this video essay I made for the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should go subscribe to if you haven't yet). Now, when I first had the idea of how to fix the evil corporate antagonist that is Pentex, it really set my brain on fire. It merged with all the knowledge I had of history, and I immediately thought of several really fun things that could be done with it. Even writing the script for the video essay was pretty fun, since it was only about 4,000 words and change, and I got to dive down several historical rabbit holes throughout the process.

You know the part that wasn't fun, though? Sitting in front of my screen for something like 16 hours to assemble all the disparate parts of this video essay. Because I had to find all the video clips, make all the title screens, assemble everything to transition at just the right times, and add in all the effects I wanted, while trying to make it all look seamless.

And that is the part where so many people give up.

Whether it's picking up the brush and making the thousands of strokes to bring a painting to completion, or taking a certain space of time to add a few hundred (or a few thousand) words to a document every day, or editing a little more of a big video on your days off, so many people give up when they reach the actual art stage of making art. Some of them do it for a while, but then they miss the spark when it was new. They miss that excitement, and the rush they had when they were playing in a sandbox, or handling a steaming hot, completely fresh idea that captivated them.

Too many people out there think that making art is all frenetic energy and manic excitement, with furious typing or being seized in the grip of the muse for hours or days on-end. And that really isn't how a majority of the process happens for most people who make art. There's some of that in the beginning, absolutely, and little fits of it here and there as we hit different snags or challenges, or we get to pieces of the project we were really looking forward to. But most of the time, making art is just a boring ass grind where we put one word, one brush stroke, or one more sound effect in front of the other until the job's done.

To return to my favorite metaphor, it's like following an exercise routine. Nobody gets absolutely shredded, completely built, or able to lift hundreds of pounds overnight. But no matter how impressive the results are (whether in terms of power, endurance, or just aesthetic), everyone who achieves their fitness goals had to put in the hours to get them there. And some of those days might have been fun. Some of those workouts might have given them an endorphin rush. Most of it, though? It's just putting the fuel into the machine, and getting in the reps and steps until you're that much closer to the goal.

The end result is amazing! But getting there? It's just grind.

And I'm saying this because so many people think art is supposed to be this inspired thing that just flows through you, just like how so many people think that love (or at least relationships) are supposed to be effortless, that things should just come naturally, and if you have to work at it that's a sign that your relationship is dying. In truth, that's just the way all of these things happen.

Being able to work through that grind, and to find meaning and purpose in it, and to find the discipline to watch the end result take shape... that's what separates artists in any field from people who are just pissing about. So remember that when you start getting bored, and wondering why this feels like work.

Because the simple reason is art is work. No matter how skilled you are, no matter how hot your creativity burns, forcing something to transition from an electrical impulse in your mind into a completed, finished thing is work. Period.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

It Is Exhausting To Always Be Hustling

"I respect the hustle, but why are you posting in so many places? I swear all I can see in my timeline is the stuff you're sharing."

This is a question I have been asked dozens of times over the years on nearly every social media platform I utilize. I've been messaged it on Facebook, Reddit, and once or twice I've even had people call me out on MeWe, and every time they start it with the same sentiment. They respect the amount of work I'm putting in, but why am I promoting my work in so many places?

I should think the answer is obvious, but just in case folks don't know, it's because I want people to see it, read/watch it, buy copies, and perhaps follow me to get more updates.

That's it. That's the whole reason. And let me tell you right now that it... is... exhausting that not only do creators have to be constantly on the grind like this, but that people will look at what we're doing and then deadass ask us why we're grinding so hard.

Because we have bills to pay, and not enough fans. We are poor. It's not that deep.

I don't know why this is so confusing to so many people.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

If I Didn't Have To Do This, I Wouldn't Be!

Again, to answer the obvious, the only reason creators post so much about their work is because we need to. No one, and I mean no one, is making self-promotion posts for the fun of it. For a majority of us, if we could just hole up in our studios and work on our projects, collect a check, and never have to engage with the public except for occasional interviews and cryptic forum posts once a year, that's what we would do.

While I can't give details for other creators, I can tell folks that I spend hours every day making promotional posts. Every day I go through Reddit, Facebook, MeWe, Bluesky, and I try to go through the comment section on YouTube, attempting to share, boost engagement, and get opinions from my audience. I make probably between 50 and 100+ posts a day, and that's just enough to get noticed by a handful of people. And while that eats up a lot of time, it also devours a lot of my energy for the day, because even a relatively mindless activity still takes time and effort to get through.

But "the hustle" as so many folks refer to trying to blast my signal across social media loudly enough to overcome the algorithm, is the backbone of my earnings. I could write dozens of books and hundreds of TTRPG guides, but if I don't tell anyone, no one is going to find them and buy them.

For example, did you see this one drop last weekend?

On those days where either a particular social media site is down, or when my Internet connection isn't working, I get so much more work done because it gives me back 3-4 hours a day I can use to write short stories, expand adventure modules, work on scripts for my podcast, record and edit videos and audio dramas, or any of the dozen other things I have deadlines for.

This is where the reality of being a professional creative, and the perception people have of the profession, deviate. Because it does not matter at the end of the day how much stuff I (or anyone else) creates. It matters what we sell. So if no one is watching, reading, or buying, we don't get paid, and that can very quickly turn into a death spiral for our careers.

I talked about this very thing a while back on Tabletop Mercenary over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and it was a truth that a lot of people didn't want to hear.

Active Audience Members Reduce The Need For The Hustle

As I said back in You Can't Make A Living Doing That? Says Who!?, an active audience makes a world of difference to any creator. Because even a relatively small number of active supports can be what makes or breaks a creator's career. And just so we're all on the same page, an active supporter is someone who interacts with a creator's content, and who does their best to deliberately support said creator. That might mean they leave them a tip every now and again, it might mean they support them on Patreon, or it could mean they buy that creator's merch whether it be tee shirts and hoodies, or books and TTRPG supplements. Alternatively, it could be people who read free articles which still pay the creator, who watch YouTube videos, and who follow on social media, share posts around, and leave comments of at least 7 words (since the algorithm has decided that's the big number).

Just to throw some numbers at you, let's say I had 500 people who wanted to actively support me. What kind of benefit would that be?

- $500 a month in Patreon/Ko-Fi earnings ($1 per supporter) would mean I could easily and reliably pay my portion of the rent with no sweating (and it would be an increase of nearly $300 in what I pull in every month). And if those supporters wanted to do $2 a month? Holy damn would I have a massive weight off my shoulders!

- 500 novel sales per month would be roughly $1,000 in royalties. And given that I have 4 novels and 2 short story collections on the market, those 500 supporters could easily earn me $6,000 or more over the course of half a year just buying 1 book a month... something that, for a lot of folks, isn't that big of a cost.

- 500 people reading 1 article per day on my Vocal.media archive would net me 15,000 additional reads... and at $6 per 1K reads, would net me a bonus $90 a month. Not as life-changing, but it would be a nice little bonus, and it would take most of a year for those supporters to read my entire archive only going through 1 article a day!

- 500 people watching 1 YouTube video a day over at the Azukail Games YouTube channel would be a bonus 15,000 additional views at the end of the month. While numbers vary for ad revenue, that would earn somewhere between $30 and $50 on average. Not a huge impact, but sharing those videos, and leaving comments on them, would massively help, and it would likely give the channel the huge visibility boost it would need to grow large enough to become semi-self sustaining. And if we just grew 500 additional subscribers, that would both put us over 2,000 subs, while also sending a message to the algorithm to pay more attention to us.

Now, 500 people sounds like a lot of folks... but there are FB groups and subreddits with tens of thousands of members. Getting 500 people is a fraction of the people who populate those places. The problem is that most people take a very passive role when it comes to how they consume art. They look casually, and then they move on, rather than interacting and supporting, which is what creators need in order to survive. It is, after all, the reason we spend so much damn time making posts and promoting our work.

So if you want to see the creators you love make fewer social media posts about their books, videos, supplements, etc.? Become an active supporter, and try to recruit some of your circle into doing the same. Because every, single one of you is making a real difference in the lives of an artist... whether you feel like it, or not!

Also, if you think an artist has so much support that they don't need you to help, I'd like to remind you that audience size is a reverse iceberg... however big it looks, it's likely not even 10% the size of what you're seeing.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

What Do Creators Do When The Grind Grinds You Down?

There has been a single, constant refrain from most folks who get to see behind the curtain of what it takes me to make a living as an author. Everyone, without fail, tells me that I need to take time for myself. That I can't be working all the time, or I'm going to overheat my engine and explode. At best, I'll get burned out, and at worst I'm going to have a heart attack and wind up in an early grave.

And they're not wrong. The stress of having to constantly be on the grind all the time is bad for your health, both mental and physical. Even if you eat well, exercise regularly, and try to get good sleep, you need time to not be grinding.

The problem is, of course, capitalism doesn't recognize your humanity, or its attendant needs. So unless you're one of a privileged few, you wind up stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Shit is relentless, and you can't stab the sea and stop the tide.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

This is a Pay-To-Win Game

I want to make something very clear to folks out there. I don't take on so many projects because I'm filled with a burning desire to do a thousand things at a time, or because I have a Type A personality that simply will not allow me to take my foot off the gas. I do so much stuff because I live in poverty, and not doing these things means it's unlikely that I will have the money to keep paying my bills at the end of the month. If I didn't have to do all these things to keep my head above water, I would do less writing every day, and I would probably shift my focus to projects that I am very passionate about/interested in, but which are not big earners for me as a creator.

I know this because about 10 years ago I was making more than double what I'm making right now. And at that time I would get up, put in the articles I'd agreed to write by mid afternoon, and then I'd do something else. I'd go out to eat with friends. I'd play video games. I'd drive out to a LARP, or I'd roll some dice during a board game night, etc. For a while I even had a weekly sword fighting meetup that I'd go to, and I could spontaneously take trips to go see people just because I missed them. Because money buys you time, and opportunity.

I did not dedicate every minute of every day to working on new projects when I didn't have to. I still wrote short stories, I still planned out novels, and I still made notes on script ideas, but I wasn't hammering on them all day, every day like a madman. More importantly, though, I didn't have anxiety that kept me up into the wee hours of the morning, and which jolted me out of bed because the sun had risen, and it was time to put the pedal back to the metal until my tank was utterly out of gas again.

Let's get this bread...

I say this because I want to frontload an important point, here. The amount of stress that creatives you know are under is, 9 times out of 10, about money. Because if we had money, it would solve a majority of our stresses, and fix so many of our problems. Because the more money you have on-hand (or the more your work regularly earns you), the less you have to worry about it. When something goes wrong with your teeth, you can call the dentist. When something goes wrong with your car, you can take it to the shop. When you're hungry you can ask, "What do I want to eat?" and not "How can I make that pack of Ramen taste different than the last 6 I've eaten this week?"

So if you've wanted to ask how you can help your creative friends feel less burned out, the top answer is going to be, "Give them money and/or support so they don't have to work so damn hard." If you can afford to become a patron on Patreon, or to tip them on Ko-Fi, do that. If you want to get them a gift, or take them out for lunch some time, do that. If you want more people to see their work then leave reviews on their books, share their articles and blogs, on your social media, and use your voice to help them be seen. For those who are interested in numbers, I have a pretty good break down in If 90,000 People Read This Article, I Can Pay My Bills This Month.

Because everything else that comes after our concerns about earnings and money is just, "How to distract yourself from the fact that you don't have enough resources to live your life the way you want to."

And for folks who like my work, and are wondering if I have a collection of links all in one place so you don't have to go search, I do! So consider supporting me at the following:

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

With That Out Of The Way...

With that said, if you can't just write a book that becomes an instant bestseller, or post a video that goes viral and makes you an overnight sensation, there are some things you can do to help stave off that grinder. This isn't a complete list, obviously, but these are the things I do to help me stay as even as I can while dodging the stamping boots of capitalism.

#1: Take Care of Yourself

This is easier said than done, but it goes a long way. First of all, drink water. I know that we all live off of Mountain Dew and coffee in the creative fields, but please, I'm begging you, alternate your drinks so you're properly hydrated. It really does do wonders for you. Beyond drinking enough water, try to get some exercise every day (whatever form works best for you). I'm fortunate enough that my apartment complex has an on-site workout room that I can use whenever I want to, but even just going for a walk, doing a yoga routine, or some body weight lifts can help reduce stress and clear your mind. Sleep as best you can, and don't be afraid to use some tea, warm milk, or a melatonin tablet if you need to.

If you aren't up to a challenge physically, that will make everything ten times harder, and this stuff is hard enough as it is.

#2: Make Opportunities For Your Passions

Again, this feels like something that's a pie-in-the-sky scenario for a lot of us. After long days of working on a dozen projects, where are you supposed to get the time and energy to just do one more thing?

For me, this comes down to finding some way to turn something I want to do into at best a tax-deductible expense, or at best a paying opportunity so that I can justify spending resources and time to make it happen.

As a for-instance, any convention where I volunteer for programming, hand out business cards, etc., becomes a business expense. Mileage, ticket costs, meals, hotel room, etc., are all things I can claim at the end of the year. Not perfect, but it does allow me to attend events I otherwise wouldn't because they're just self-indulgent, or I want to see my friends. Alternatively, I really like making audio dramas. I couldn't justify the half dozen hours even a small snippet took to make, but when I reached out to Azukail Games and they hired me to turn my fiction vignettes into audio dramas for the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should check out and subscribe to), suddenly this thing I didn't have time for could be made a priority because it came with a check.

This can be difficult, but it never hurts to use the network and connections you have to try to get more personal enjoyment out of the work you do. And sometimes this can result in you finding a new niche, growing as a creator, and really enjoying your work in a way you weren't before. Even if you can't reduce your workload, finding work you feel motivated to do helps a lot. Variety helps, too, so if you're getting bored doing one thing, try some sideways thinking to see if there's a way you could change things up without damaging your bottom line.

#3: Allow Yourself To Be Entertained

I don't have a single subscription to a single streaming service. I flat-out can't afford them, and I know there's a lot of other creative folks out there who are in the same boat. However, diversion and entertainment are key to not overloading your brain, and you need to make time to just sit back, and enjoy things sometimes.

Fortunately, there are options out there for free stuff all over the place.

First and foremost, check your local library to see what services they offer. A lot of them have apps these days that allow you to check out ebooks and digital audio books right to your devices, which can make everything from riding the bus to going to sleep a lot better. YouTube is also full of great content you can just binge at will, and if you are a fan of independent narration, I'd recommend checking out A Vox in The Void, as well as Warrior Tier for those who really enjoy Warhammer 40K content. If you live in an area where there's local events then you may have free concerts, movie screenings, and a dozen other things going on as well. There's online roleplaying groups, watch parties, and all sorts of other activities you can do, too!

As always, there's the matter of time, convenience, and how much energy you can put in. But sometimes you just need to put in some headphones and listen to a new album, or catch up on some creepy pastas while going on an evening walk, to recharge your batteries just a little.

Wars Aren't Won on a Single Charge

With a dramatic few exceptions, your career isn't going to explode overnight. Most of us won't make something that goes viral, or become massive bestsellers. Changes take time as we build our archives, find our audience, try new things, and so on. While the best way to help the creators you want to see succeed is to give them any and all support you can, it's also important that when you're down in the trench that you do the best you can with what you have. Change your socks so you don't get trench foot. Drink tea or coffee in between shellings. Take a bite of chocolate every now and again.

You have to keep up your strength so that you can keep the pressure on when it matters. Be as kind to yourself as the conditions allow you to be.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects! You can also check out my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary for free audio dramas!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!