Nobody Cares Until the Whole Thing is Done

I recently looked over a friend's project. There were some positive and negative points to the project and,  as I always do when asked to critique, I focused on the negative (though I do try to do so with an eye toward improvement and not destruction, but that's another blog...in fact there are about a dozen blogs on feedback just waiting to happen). But the one thing that stood out to me was his explanation of the project.

"I want you to know." he said, and then he explained how he had insisted on following a certain method to assure a quality product. And though the product was quality. That's not the issue at hand. I want to address instead, the basic psychological issue that causes us to think that other people care how we do things. I want you all to know that no one cares how you go about your artistic process. They only care about the final product. It may sound harsh, but it's true. Why? Because until there is a final product, then your process is meaningless. You didn't make anything, and so it doesn't matter what you did.

Now I'm not sitting here and trying to say that process doesn't matter. I've got a theatre education background that screams at me every time I even think that. It sits in the back of my mind and tones, "It's the trip that's important!" "The end product doesn't matter as long as you've learned something!" "Everyone is happy and nice and you should invest your money with false smiled strangers!" Well, maybe not the last one.

But that's for students. That's for the artist. The process is only important to people who are A) trying to duplicate your success, or B) learning how to avoid your failure.

If you have an audience, or if you want to make money, then the end product IS what matters.

This whole situation reminds me of the first play that I wrote. I finagled my way into having it produced at a local community theatre and I thought I was on top of the world. I still think the play was good, but it was a first play. And when a writer for a local newspaper contacted me asking about myself I gave him an autobiography. I didn't realize then that people just don't care. My mother cares. My family cares. My friends care. But they don't care because of my project. They care about me.

Your readers will not care about you. They will care about your books. They will care about your characters. They will care about the stories that they have shared because once they take part it is their story and not yours. They will care about you because you are connected to their stories. But they're not your family. They don't care about you.

This may sound difficult to some people, but it's a good thing. You are writing something for someone else. Give them a product that they'll love. Then step back and let them love it. If they ask you about how you did it, then give them the short answer. If they want to study your process, then tell them.

We are all selfish in this world. We think so many things about ourselves. I thought everyone wanted to know about this little playwright they'd never heard of. They didn't. The people who enjoyed my play enjoyed it for what it was, not who wrote it.

So, write your book. Write your play. Write your poem. Then share them. Because people will love your project. But nobody cares until the whole thing is done.