shadows_gallery | On Creating In Fandom, Or, The Care and Feeding of Your Muse

In recent months, I've been pondering the role of fan creations (art, fiction, etc) in the life of an aspiring professional.

For a long while, I actually felt that spending time on writing a story about some character that isn't actually your creation to be a waste of valuable creativity and time. I still indulged in it now and again, though I actually found myself feeling rather guilty for it.

Recently, in a massive "who gives a f*#*#%?" moment, I decided to forget feelings of guilt and pointlessness and other self-conscious emotions, and start writing and drawing in a fandom that I quite enjoy. And I discovered something.

I was creating not for money, not because I was driving towards a specific goal or intent, but because I loved it. I was, quite literally, feeding my starving muse, writing about characters I love, making drawings of them. And I found my creativity begin to open up and flourish. I began to work more on Veil. My collection of brainstorming sketches began to expand. I started other paintings. I drew up a new crowdfunding plan for selling those paintings and began to implement it.

I was creating for the sheer joy of it. AND, it was productive. All of it, even the fan creations. Because, you see, a muse can be a very fickle creature. She needs tender loving care, a lot of it. And if she wants to do something, it's usually best to give her the opportunity to shine. Because that brilliant light of creation will cast its glow over everything one does.