Doers and Whiners

I’m pretty burnt out on diagnosing problems and lamenting them. We all know about the state of our culture and the state of our world. I’m more interested in what to do about it. So many ruminations about “What do we do?” are long on generalities and complaints and short on specifics and positive leadership. So allow me to throw my hat into the ring here. Some of this is stuff I’ve said before on this blog, some of it is new, but I’ll put it all here in one place:

For Creators:

You have to get your stuff out there. This is the bottom line, number one piece of actionable advice. Stop aspiring and start doing. It can start small: enter a songwriting competition, send a short story to a magazine, or just put stuff out on your own. But if you’re not in the arena, you’re really missing out.Don’t be cringe. No Ben Shapiro-level embarrassing self-insert fan-fiction slathered with corny “hot button” topical political issues. But there’s more to it than just “Tell a good story” or “Make a good product.” You have to, as Brian Neimeier perfectly puts it, show the characters in your story who embody the values you are trying to inculcate succeeding. This doesn’t mean they have to be perfect, boring Mary Sues. But maybe they survive at the end.Continually improve. If we’re going to avoid the gatekeepers, we need another type of quality check on our work. So seek out honest feedback with an eye towards your improvement. In a world where literally anybody can publish a book, and absent a network of editors and tastemakers and other people devoted to putting forth a certain culture and aesthetic, this is a must.Be a part of a community. Like-minded creators need networks for new ideas and the aforementioned continual improvement. Don’t be shy about hopping on message boards or social media or anything else in order to meet people like you. All you have to do is ask for help, and the worst that anyone can tell you is no, they’re busy.

For Fans:

Give up mainstream IPs. They’re dead. They’re never coming back. Stop devoting time and money to Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, D&D, etc. They suck and they’re not for you anymore.Support monetarily or spread the word. This is a sort of corollary to the above point. If you lament the sad state of corporate IP, yet still spend money on it while ignoring other stuff that’s not owned by people who hate you, you’re a part of the problem. Throw a few bucks an independent creators’ way, buy a book or a CD, support a crowdfund, or just spread the word. A lot of people do this, which is awesome, but we need more. How do I know? Because I still see conservative dorks whining online about “The right has no culture” and so on. What buffoons. No wonder they always lose. “Right” and “Left” are dead terms anyway, vestigial appendages we still use because we don’t have a new agreed-upon vocabulary yet.Start a network. Be the cultural curator or patron you want to see. Not an author or programmer or developer or artist or musician or filmmaker? Fine. Set up a website reviewing new stuff, interview people, curate alternative culture, whatever. As with the reality that anyone can publish a book, anyone can publish a website. Go for it!

At the end of the day, you’re either a doer or a whiner. And whiners accomplish nothing.

For the fans: