Who Are You Creating For?

Welcome to Creatives Anonymous, a weekly newsletter that explores what it means to be a modern-day creative. It inspires, encourages, and empowers readers to take back their creative power.

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Over the last few years, I’ve fallen out of love with writing. 

I’ve been one for as long as I can remember. Like every writer, I started by keeping a journal before moving my voice to a bigger platform: the internet. I started my first blog when I was 18 and never looked back.

I decided to pursue a career in writing because I loved it. Writing has always been the best way for me to express my thoughts and ideas and process my feelings about what’s happening around me. 

As a budding journalist in college, I loved interviewing people and finding the hidden story—the story within a story, if you will. I got such a high when I could cohesively connect two juxtaposing ideas. 

Then, I started to get paid for the work, which changed everything. 

From too many constraints (I’m sorry, I don’t write at a 5th-grade reading level) to the types of assignments I was getting (the SEO phenomenon is really out of control), writing was no longer fun. 

There’s a name for this: the overjustification effect. The overjustification effect is where external reward (like money) kills the intrinsic motivation to complete the task. In other words, when you start getting paid to do something you love, it makes you love it less. 

I didn’t get into writing to make money from it. I got into it because of its ability to change how people think with my words. 

This can be said for anyone creating anything—writing, videos, art, etc. We all create not because we want to make money from it but because of another motivation: to impact our community, leave behind a legacy, or connect with others.

As creatives, especially as we start down the slippery slope of commoditization, we all grapple with the same question: Are you creating for yourself, or are you creating for others?

The answer to that question is what helped me start to fall back in love with writing again. 

Earlier this year, I decided to slowly step away from writing for others and start writing for myself again. That’s how this newsletter was born—I needed a vehicle to have a consistent writing practice and a place where I could write for myself without constraints (my work is so much better when I don’t have a style guide to follow).

When creating for others, we step into the role of a “communicator.” The communicator needs feedback to create work that aligns with the audience’s expectations (like a freelance writer's work). 

Because of its tangible value, this kind of work tends to be commoditized more often. The reason for creating this kind of work comes from something else—marketing your business, growing an audience, etc. Extrinsic motivation drives communicators. 

On the other hand, when we’re creating for ourselves, we step into the role of the “artist.” Artists don’t need applause because they don’t care whether or not their work is well-received. Think about how many artists didn’t make a single sale of their work when they were alive—it didn’t stop them from creating. 

This type of work can be commoditized or not. It’s value isn’t inherently tangible the same way our work is when we create for others. Intrinsic motivation is what drives artists. They have a why for wanting to get their work into the world. More often than not, it’s not to make money, but it’s certainly a bonus. 

As the line for what is deemed as being a “creator” continues to blur, it becomes harder to know when to create for yourself versus creating for others. I hear this discourse all the time, especially from YouTubers. 

The biggest culprit is the numbers. The analytics tell us whether our work has “merit,” whether it's click-through rate, views, etc. (Also, why do numbers determine self-worth in almost every area of life? Food for thought.). It puts unnecessary pressure on ourselves to perform against imaginary standards. 

As a result, we create to feed the algorithm rather than our creativity. 

We create the kind of content we think people will like because the numbers tell us what they’ll like. But, what about the kind of content we like? We get spooked out of creating what we want to create because we fear it won’t perform. 

When we create for others, we get burned out and frustrated becasue we’re too caught up in chasing the numbers. Our work becomes performative, and it’s easier for us to lose our authenticity along the way. We forget why we’re creating in the first place. We forget to have fun. 

When we create for ourselves, we could care less about the numbers. We’re driven by the need to experiment and have fun. There is no pressure to perform. Yet, the work performs better because it comes from better intentions. We attract people for who we are and our ideas rather than creating what we think they want to see. 

We hit gold when we can build an audience by creating work that we want to create. Work that’s authentic to who we are represents our unique point of view and tells the stories we want to tell.

As creatives, we have to remember who we’re creating for. It sure better be for us.

CREATIVE CORNER

• 🎞️ What I’m Consuming: This season of Holiday Baking Championship 

• 💡 What I’m Loving: Pumpkin pie milkshakes. It's the only way I’ll eat pumpkin pie for the foreseeable future.

• 🎨 What I’m Working On: My Christmas cards. I am already obsessed with the pictures I’ve chosen

• 💭 Weekly Musing:

Thank you 💕

If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you could forward it to someone who you think would like it, too!

I’m so grateful for all of your support!

Alexa Phillips is a writer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate creative. She is the founder and Chief Brand Architect at Bright Eyes Creative, a creative studio that helps creative entrepreneurs build media-first brands to lead conversations and deeply connect with their audience.

Where to find me:

• Check out my new offer, Media Multiverse Plotting Calls, where I can help you plan your entire media ecosystem for 2025 in 60 minutes.

• Listen to my recent podcast episodes here.

• Subscribe to my other newsletter, The Underground, a weekly zine where I teach bold brands how to break through the noise and leave their mark through media, marketing & brand strategy. 

• Grab my Brand Realignment Workbook to help realign your brand to build your dream business.