Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives. Today we’re taking a break from Magic and asking ourselves an important question “When is Enough, Enough?”.
So, the reason I’m asking this question is simple: Recently I’ve seen a number of creatives talking about burn-out, feedback, critique, and just generally asking the question, why do I do this?
So we’re going to take this in reverse order:
Why do I do this?
Many (or most) of the creative people you see today that are featured in RPG books, board games, card games, and the like are freelancers. Most of us do it because we love the hobby (because, quite frankly, the pay just isn’t great – in fact, most are likely underpaid for the work they do). But we all have a vain dream that we’ll strike it big and be able to live off it one day. For the VAST majority (we’re talking like 99.9999% here), that will never happen. Most books that are done at a certain level tend to be from the same people and breaking into that circle is difficult — especially if you’re not much of a social media person, as that has now become a criteria for many publishers, whether that is you being popular on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook or having a podcast or liveplay on Twitch/Youtube. (Some would argue that at this point those who are part of a minority group are getting preferential treatment as well. I’d argue that they’ve been given a bad treatment for so long that it seems only fair that they get their turn).
But yes – look at your favorite RPG books, and a few names will stand out as being the same ones. But every designer, every artist, everyone in each of those books would most likely want to make it their day job if they could.
Critique and feedback
We all get critique, some more than others. But what many of the commenters on our work seem to forget is that negative feedback strikes a lot harder than positive (like a factor for 10 to 1) and it’s a lot harder to give negative feedback than positive. This wears any creative down, no matter how thick-skinned they might otherwise be, or how well-meaning the feedback is. This even goes for professionals – when they provide feedback, they know all this, and even then, those on the receiving end will still tend to read it in the most negative way they can. (As an example, I’ve had positive feedback from Paizo developers on a few occasions, but because I was tired or in the wrong mindset, I read it as negatives. It affected my work for the rest of the day, until the next, where I was rested enough, and read it again).
I suppose this is basically an appeal to everyone out there: By all means, if you don’t like something, tell us. But tell us WHY you don’t like it, and perhaps how you think it could be improved? And don’t use personal insults, that’s both below you and your audience.
And if you want to give praise or positive feedback – please do not hold back. Tell the creative your thoughts, and let them know. This is really appreciated as it is one of those things that fuel creativity and helps us move on. Often, we are our own harshest critics, and this helps us move on.
Burn-Out
I’ve discussed the Writer’s Blockade in the past here but I wanted to add something to that discussion there, in regards to the above. Bad pay, work conditions and things like COVID have affected the creatives around the world in negative ways, but NOTHING burns you out faster than feeling like your work is sub-par or under-appreciated. And that, I believe, is why we lose so many of the folks who set out on the creative path along the way. They feel as if what they create isn’t as good as someone else’s or they feel like they’re not moving anywhere.
To sum this all up, I hope that those of you out there who are creatives and feeling this: You’re not alone. And if you know any creatives – let them know that you like their work or (kindly) how they can improve.
Kim Frandsen
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