A Cluster of Creatives

Do you remember Captain Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean? I want you to think of him and not just the raggedy clothes, the homeless look, the bottle clung to his chest, the weird beard accessories or the mannerism at which he talked. He couldn’t achieve anything without aides in all of the parts; my favourite sequel being Dead Men Tell No Tales – where he had to journey with a clueless boy consumed by a penchant desire to settle some childhood scores through some ghost stories and a female astrologist who was accused of practicing witchcraft.

Jack was a mad man but also a super creative – the way he thought and the methods he approached difficult situations with were just astounding. He always formed alliances at the end of each movie and that was the reason he always won.

I know you’re not a mad man; you probably do not have some extreme craziness like Jack and some other creatives. You probably don’t even have a style but you’re as quite a genius as the rest of them and you’re used to going it alone. You are a lone ranger. You conceptualize, strategize and execute all by yourself.

If you belong to #selfmade gang, you probably won’t get what the fuss is about.

I don’t know what kind of creative you are – writer, storyteller, designer, filmmaker, graphics designer, podcaster, content creator, makeup artist; the list is inexhaustible, you can do so much more and better if you belong.

A community is a group of people who vibe together, have similar interests, skills, passion and most importantly, have each other’s backs.

The concept of community in the creative sector has always existed – majorly offline associations, meets and greets, and hangout sessions but now that we live in a digital world where we are all connected, online communities have really expanded the scope of belonging to a community.

There’s a place for you. I don’t know what you do but there is just the right place for you. You just need to go on a search.

How do you find the right community for you?

• Make real connections with those who do what you do: You see a writer you dig on social media? Follow them, send a positive feedback about one of their works you’ve seen and tell them you’re a writer too. Share your work with them. Have conversations outside of the scope of what you do to find some other similar interests. You’ll get to know after a series of conversations, the kind of resources they have access to, the newsletters they are subscribed to and the writers who motivate them. You’ll get to see their updates about some writing hangouts or online community and this is your gateway. This goes for any kind of creative. I know on Twitter, there’s a designer’s community and they have a specific hashtag. There are Facebook and LinkedIn groups of people in the same field and niche. Connect with the right people and follow their trail. Find the right hashtags on Instagram.
• Use Google:

You are underutilizing the search feature in more ways than you know. Put in the right query and you’d be surprised at the answers you get on the communities available for your kind. The first time I searched for ‘Writers Communities’; I felt stupid that I’d never searched for it before then. I saw online forums that criticized upcoming writer’s work; others who help new authors and some who had writing promptings for each day. I saw chatrooms bubbling with conversations and I took my time to go through each one and decided the ones I was going with for now. You can do same too. For designers, I know there’s a global community – Dribble. People share their work on there, connect with each other and share ideas. New insights, trends and innovations are shared on such global communities. They are free resources for you to enjoy and competitions you can get on to stimulate more out of you and win you some cool prizes.

• Follow those who inspire you: My hope is that you have people across the three spectrums who inspire you with their work, ideas and lives. The three spectrums are:

1. Upward: Those you look up to. There are well advanced in their journey – have more experience and more results. They are the leading labels in your industry. They usually know what’s going on even before it goes on.
2. Horizontal: Those who are your peers. People at your level who do great stuff and whose success story just inspires you. You see their passion, progress and their work. They have great value systems and are easily accessible compared to those upward.
3. Downward: Those who look up to you can also inspire you. They are probably just starting out in the industry and you’re one of those they are looking up to but they have inspired you with that newbie passion and grit to learn anything and take on any challenge.

All these are ways you can find the right community. I don’t know what you’re looking for in a community so you might have to create the criteria by yourself factoring the things you want to achieve in your career/business and where you are today.

I hope you don’t go through your creative journey alone. If you’re a content creator and a writer, keep up with my articles because I would be sharing more on the communities and don't be a stranger. Connect with me here on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.