I overheard a conversation my roommate was having with his friend on the phone yesterday while I was in the kitchen making coffee. They are both writers and the friend was asking advice on how to write a breakout piece in an industry that can be brutal and difficult to get into. “Pick one person to write for”, I heard my roommate saying. "Whether it’s a friend, a lover, that person who did you wrong or yourself. Just pick one person to write for and people will connect to it.”
We’ve all heard the advice as business owners and creators hustling to make a sellable product: “know your audience”. But sometimes that term is too grand to conceptualize; too abstract. Narrowing it down to one person in particular is the next step closer to understanding who you are connecting to. Or what part of yourself you’re connecting to in the dynamic and drama of the world we find ourselves in.
It’s safe to say that people affect us: our parents, siblings, lovers, enemies, the angry cashier, sweet barista, rude neighbor, fashionista walking down the street, friend or stranger…there is an ongoing exchange of energy and experience that should touch us. In creating for an audience, we are tuning in to ourselves and defining what our creation will mean and say in the world.
- What do they need that perhaps they are missing and don’t know it yet?
- What will make them feel happy, seen, thought of, comforted, acknowledged?
- What does their bedroom look like? How can my work enhance it visually, sonically or tangibly?
- What is their favorite color, texture, genre, style?
- What life events have they gone through that makes them more sensitive or strong?
- What do they think about on a daily basis?
- What do they feel on a daily basis?
- How well do you know yourself?
- How deep can you feel an emotion?
- How open is your mind?
- How much do you accept yourself, your darkness, your weaknesses, your strengths and your desires?
Whoever you choose to write, paint, sing, create for - tap into your empathy to answer these questions about them:
Now don’t misunderstand this angle. We are not losing ourselves in the process of producing something for someone else.
Losing ourselves is what happens when we only focus on the audience and lose touch with ourselves in the over productive, over saturated industry of art. People can feel the connection or lack thereof. That, to me, is what separates real art from just a product.
Empathy is the ability to accept in ourselves an experience, emotion and energy that is not our own and connect deeply to it. By allowing this encounter, we can alchemize all these pieces of a person through our own depth of thought, ability to emote and unique view and perspective. We are literally coordinating our body, mind, skill and spirit to grow and deliver something deeply personal to both us and the audience that in the end, exists outside of ourselves.
That is the magic of great art. That is what defines a great artist.
This process of alchemy depends on our ability to connect with ourselves first:
We make art for ourselves first. The art of alchemy is our way of processing our experiences, expressing our feelings, voicing our thoughts. Bringing something new into the world is cathartic and freeing and evolving. We create to live. And in doing so, we share that life with others.
Artists are truly the greatest gifts in our world. Art is the greatest gift we can give.
By Rachael Kauffman
A California native, musician and songwriter, crafter, lover of nature and pretty buildings, Rachael lives in San Francisco and can often be found sitting at the desk in her apartment window playing her keyboard, writing a poem and eating a buttery pastry with a cup of coffee.