Creating For Everyone Is Creating For No One
Seriously, you can't take everyone with you.
As you know, I am dedicated to getting your work discovered by African readers, writers, and creators. So I’m introducing you to the A-Game Award!
Here is how it works: We award one creator’s publication from our lists in every newsletter. (Sign yourself up if you haven’t *wink wink*.) Every A-Game Award comes with an automatic invitation to submit your best work for A-Mention because your next subscriber could be one mention away!
This Week’s A-Game Goes To…
Starry Nights With MoyosoreOluwa by MOYOSOREOLUWA PETER-AYEYE
Congratulations, A-Gamer of the week! We see you, and we love what you are building! Submit your best work for A-Mention here.
Stay ready, A-Stacker. You might be next!
“I don’t have a niche.”
“I am the niche; the niche is me.”
*clears throat*
What if I told you the problem is that you are creating for everyone? You see how we tell each other we can’t live our lives for everyone. It might be time we applied it to our creative work, too. And I will tell you why.
You Are Wearing Yourself Out
It is creatively exhausting not just for the reader but also for you, the creator. You are pulling at different energies every time you need to create. And if you paid attention to how your audience responds, there is a pillar or two that they resonate with. And that’s probably because it comes naturally to you.
The logic most people use to defend dabbling in multiple niches at once is that they refuse to be put in a box. And I hear that, but there are spaces that we genuinely belong in that spark a light that can’t be dimmed.
If you are creating to monetise and turn your work into something legendary, a niche isn’t as uncool as the streets have made it sound. Maybe the question we should be asking is, “What scares us about deciding/accepting who we are and showing up as them in our work?”
Think about that.
The Masses Are Confused
You want your name mentioned in rooms you have never stepped into, but how will they when they do not know where to place you? You are incredible with your creations, but you have also used them in a million ways, so people will either not remember you at all or struggle to see how you fit in anywhere.
There are people whose content I do not consume, but because I know who they are creating for, I can say their name for the right jobs or projects. And that’s what you need. Be memorable and placeable (is that a word?) The creative world also requires structure to work. The problem is that we associate structure with boredom and monotony. I blame corporations for that.
Structure keeps you consistent and draws an audience that is aligned with your work. The fun and colour can exist within structure.
If you are creating with no intention to grow, influence, or change a narrative, then by all means, dip your toe wherever and whenever. But if your dream life includes making money from the endless rewards of creative work, then think about what I just said.
Before I go, let me ask you this: who are you creating for?
Your new favourite A-Stacker,
Nobuhle
PSSSSSSTTTTT Hi,
You are the A-Lister we need. The A-List and the A-Pod List are the African creator directories built by the continent, for the continent. Register now to be discovered.