Things to Consider when Starting any Creative Work
Whether you’re starting a book, a YouTube channel, a blog, or any other creative work, there are a couple things you must consider.
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Your Purpose
The first thing you need to think about is why you’re making whatever you’re making. This might seem silly, but it’s important. If you just decide that “you want to write a book,” the reason makes a big difference. Do you want to make a ton of money off it? Then you will probably need to research current book markets to find out what’s popular. Do you want to help people in some way? That will help you decide what to write about. These are just a couple examples. You need to decide exactly what purpose the book will serve, and continue to think about it while writing, recording, etc. If while you’re making your work you realize “this work is straying from the purpose”, you need to get back on track.
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Your Audience
Who will be seeing your work? Will it be young people or old people? Fans of jazz or hip-hop? Are they tech-savvy or not? These are examples of questions you must ask yourself even before you start whatever you want to do. Say you want to write a song that older people will enjoy, yet you write a rap song. This is an extreme example but illustrates problems that will arise if you don’t think about who you will be putting the work in front of. Thinking about your target audience ahead of time lets you create a work tailored for that demographic, and will ensure that this group will be satisfied as much as possible.
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Your Brand
How do you want to portray yourself? You don’t have to be yourself, necessarily. This comes back to audience in a way. Let’s assume you want to make videos catered towards young people, but you are very lethargic and boring in your videos; that will not go over well. With that audience, it would probably go over better if you create a high-energy persona. Your brand and works must cater towards your audience, and that way you will get more people interested in not just your work, but you.