Just joining the article series? Part one can be read in Culture’s November 23 lineup.

Creative Risks/Creative Gambles

If you are new to exploring your creativity, make sure you don’t scare yourself silly by taking on something too big or too public. It’s okay, and sometimes very wise, to let your first creative efforts stay under the radar of family, friends, and talent scouts. Accept that you will have a technical learning curve as you master whichever medium you adopt and that this learning process will result in a deepening of your understanding of your own creative voice (or artistic eye). Your understanding will lead you to learn more specific technical aspects of your work and this in turn will enrich your voice. This conversation between you, yourself, and your medium will be plenty at first.

Later you can pick the most comfortable of the uncomfortable options for making your efforts more public. Put one or two eggs in your psychic basket and let the feedback develop you. Resist the temptation to base your ultimate worth as a creative being on what you produce and share when you are still learning. And you will always be learning. You may always need a day job to support your creative endeavors. Don’t let that derail you or force you to devalue your creative process. The process is the thing… let yourself enter the dialogue without demands on the outcome. Creativity is a process through which you will discover yourself. This will be a lot easier when you are willing to believe you are someone worth getting to know.

Finally, A Word About Critics (from within and without)

Don’t confuse the significance of your creative voice with the quality of your creative technique. Work on technical growth, but while you are on your way to mastery keep a look out for your artistic perspective. Technique can always be developed and your artistic stirrings will tell you where technique needs developing for its most potent expression.