The conventional wisdom among artists is that introspection and self-assurance outweigh the need for external validation. However, it is easier to say external validation doesn’t matter when you already have some. Sure, you don’t need a skateboard to make you happy, but it’s annoying if Kickflip Mackenzie, King of the Skatepark, is the one telling you that.
Earlier this week, a publication rejected my pitch for a story. I didn’t blink upon receiving the email. I’m confident in my writing skills, and I know frequent rejection is standard-fare in this field. But were this rejection to come after only ever receiving harsh no’s and non-responses, I can guarantee I wouldn’t be as nonchalant about the external rejection of my abilities. I have dozens of successful pitches I can point to as proof of my writing skill. Self-confidence is all well and good, but it is not a coincidence that my self-confidence became stronger after I had my stories accepted in publications like Texas Monthly and Study Hall.
When artists become immersed in their field, giving out-of-touch advice becomes easier. There’s an idea called the curse of knowledge, a cognitive bias where an individual unknowingly assumes that others have the same background information to understand what they are saying. I’ve attended lectures from talented writers who are so advanced in the craft that they are almost incapable of advising beginners. It is hard to remember what it is like not to know something.
When artists become immersed in their field, giving out-of-touch advice becomes easier.
When I spoke to the University of Texas chapter of the Asian American Journalist Association, a student asked me how they should deal with their fear of talking to professors. Being distant from that fear, I hand-waved their question and said something akin to, “Oh well, professors are people. They’re not too scary.”
Fortunately, another student chimed in. “Come with specific questions and remember that professors are usually excited to share their stories,” she said. “If you start them on a topic, especially something from their field, they’ll go for longer than you expect.” Her response was elegant, concise, and accounted for the asker needing practical advice more than a feel-good statement. When she finished, I told them to pretend I had said that.
Until that moment, I had forgotten that I had once learned the same lesson. I wasn’t wrong to say professors aren’t too scary. But underneath that advice, I took for granted my technical know-how of how to speak to people I may find intimidating.
I’ve found that the advice, “Don’t worry about external validation” actually means, “Do these 25-odd technical and time-consuming steps, get some external validation, and then realize there is more to emotional stability than that.” If nothing else, external validation allows you to confront the complexities of creative life.
When I interviewed Afrofuturist graphic novelist Tim Fielder about his new book, I was enamored by the clarity with which he spoke about validation. “I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I don’t want validation and acceptance from my chosen field and industry,” he said. “Of course, I want that. To have received that on both a personal level and from the industry — that meant a lot.”
If nothing else, external validation allows you to confront the complexities of creative life.
I admire Fielder’s maturity in knowing which opinions of his efforts matter to him. I've often struggled to admit my desire for more recognition of my writing. My experiences as an ex-political speaker have warned me of the dangers of ego and social climbing. But wanting to see your artistic talents recognized is not inherently corrupt. Art is a means to express and define ourselves to the people around us. There is a virtue in sharing our work with people. It is easy to lose sight of that as we put up walls to defend against criticism or see less relative value with each piece of praise we receive. But having our art be seen and appreciated by even one other person — that means something. Frankly, I don’t believe artists who say that outside recognition of their art has no sway over them.
It’s okay to seek external validation. Hopefully, it won’t be all that you need. But if you need to go there to learn that lesson, then so be it. I have no place to judge.
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Love the art at the beginning. And yeah, I also enjoyed reading this! It was hard for me to accept that I want to have a bigger audience. I thought it was too prosaic, not “writerly” enough. But I have accepted it, and now I am focusing on that more specifically. I’m definitely more at peace with myself now.
I really enjoyed reading this!