When you gather the right people together with a purpose that inspires action, you will create art. When you bring the wrong people into the equation, you dilute your efforts. You can create better art by excluding those not chosen.To exclude someone “feels” wrong. It doesn’t feel right to say, “You can’t come. ‘This’ isn’t for you.” Does it? Who likes to be that person? No one. There’s a problem; in your attempt to include everybody, you will hurt the chosen ones. These people came to feel something unique to them, with others like them; these people want to do something with your message and share it with others. Your desire to feel better about yourself took away from their experience. You were not selfless; you became inadvertently selfish. What’s worse, the excluded will also be hurt. The ones who do not belong will feel out-of-place, as if they wasted their time, and speak of your event in less than positive ways. Why make an effort to bring them along? They’re not your connectors; they’re not for you, and you’re not for them. You can’t make everybody happy. But you can work to give something meaningful to the ones you seek to serve. The ones who will be touched by your work. Those people who will tell others. Don’t dilute your work. Serve your tribe.

If you are all things to all people, you are nothing to everyone. The tribe you serve is not all people; they have specific values, needs, and dreams that you help fulfill. When you bring them together, make your gathering for them - the chosen ones. I used to help couples plan the music for their weddings. On a rare occasion, I would be part of conversations that relate to their guest list. If you’ve ever been married, or know people who have, you know how important a guest list is to people. The problem with a wedding guest list is that everybody wants somebody that may, or may not, be of any relevance to the couple or their event to attend. They are the ones that we invite because it feels good, or we “should” ask them. These individuals are not the chosen ones. How do you determine who to invite? Weddings celebrate the union of two people, right? What if we turned it around? This new wedding is for two people to celebrate the individuals that were with them through the most challenging parts of their relationship - the journey. Those individuals who supported the couple are the chosen ones. Our new idea makes it clear who attends and who does not. Not just weddings, how about gigs?Let’s say I am an artist. My music speaks to people bullied in school and inspires them to look past the tough times and be a rock for others. Who would be on my invite list? Victims of school bullying, school support groups, maybe social support services, parent-school organization members? We would bring together the people that will be inspired to spread our message. Invite the people that you serve. They want you to share your message with them; they want to be inspired. When planning your next concert, gig, meeting, conference, or gathering - choose wisely.

When you bring people together - you gather. A gathering can be a meeting, concert, gig, lunch, dinner, practice session, wedding, coffee, networking event, a phone call, conference call, meeting, conference, check-in, or a video call. Previously I wrote on becoming a better artist. The first step in creating better art is to have a purpose, intention, cause, or belief which inspires action. Shouldn’t gatherings be the same? I recently spoke with an artist looking to break into the college circuit. They had an idea for creating a tour that focused on relationships. What happens if this artist called each gig an experience? This experience would be for people who have had struggles with relationships and want to feel connected with others through music. The experience would inspire people to check-in on people that are going through challenging times. All of a sudden, a simple gig has a purpose. Like this artist, I believe we can all do more to bring each other together for a purpose that inspires action. There’s an art in how we bring people together, and Priya Parker, in her book, “The Art of Gathering,” shares her insights into “How we meet, and why it matters.” For the next few days, I’ll be reflecting on the art of gathering your tribe. Follow along.

Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum.   You can’t start at step 1, then go to step 5, and skip the rest.
I also don’t recommend focusing too much on one stage and not the others. Everything exists in balance.    

1. Start with an idea.
2. Visualize the form your idea will take.
3. Pick the idiom - the expression of your idea realized.
4. Create structure - create a process for creation.
5. Apply craft - build it.
6. Surface - create a great first impression. If you apply these steps, you’ll create a work that inspires a response from a grateful audience.  Art requires a response from those you seek to serve. Those you seek to serve want to come alive. Serve the others by creating better art. Follow the process.   Come alive

That moment when you finish the last song, and the audience erupts - art happened. Art happened because you connected with the mind of another, shared a message worth sharing, and did so through a medium that you’ve mastered - and - the other received and appreciated your message. Art requires a response. The artist’s desire to communicate an idea and create better art is only as strong as their audience’s desire to give meaning and definition to the piece. You need your audience, readers, listeners, clients, customers to create art. It’s easy to take the posture that we’re artists and those that will appreciate our work will, and to hell with everybody else. It’s also easy to say we’re not creating this piece for someone, it’s for us and it’s a reflection of what’s in our minds. You would be within your rights to have those thoughts. However, if you want to reach the others and serve them, you’ll need their response. When an audience responds, it means they felt something so powerful that they needed to express their feeling outward. This expression takes energy and vulnerability. Also, the audience will likely share the experience with friends; they want their friends to feel what they feel. When that happens, others will come to know about your work and want to see you. When that happens, you’ll create an epidemic. You’ll thrive. Make art that inspires a reaction, a response.Be a better artist. Serve the others. Come alive.

We find ourselves at the last step of the “Be a Better Artist” mini-series. - surface.  The shine, polish, error-checking, tweaks, bells, and whistles are the “surface.” It’s our first impression. Something as important as first impressions often receives little attention. Why?  I believe the reason musicians, and others, often overlook the surface is that they place too much emphasis on craft. We want to be appreciated for our craftsmanship, right?    Yes, and no. Yes, I want others to appreciate how I applied my craft and attention to detail to create something that aligns with my idea. No, because the only way someone will recognize my skills is if they have an excellent first impression of the work. Consider the below.    Isn’t the idea that people walk away having received your message?Don’t we want people to feel something from our work?Isn’t the idea to communicate our thoughts?Sell a CD?Buy a service?Sign up for a mailing list?If so, surface matters.Surface matters because without it, we lose the opportunity to make an impactful first impression. First impressions motivate our customers to learn more about us. First impressions get people to want to listen to what we have to say.  Your “ideas” are worth believing in and, therefore, worth the effort of polishing the surface of your work. Make an effort and take the time to create a remarkable first impression. Be a better artist.

We spend too much time building and not enough time planning our work. Those who know me might say, “David, you hate tons of planning!” I do, humans are terrible estimators of time (another blog post for another day), but equally, I feel if you build without knowing what you’re trying to make, you’re making it wrong. Craft is big, but not more important than any other step in making better art.  I had the privilege of working with incredibly talented and dedicated artists. I am speaking of individuals with daily practice and wellness routines, people who desired critical feedback, and individuals that wanted to see themselves and others put in maximum effort to create exceptional music. What’s the problem?  These same people often didn’t focus on intention, form, idiom, or structure of their work. They immediately took to their craft of building without a plan. They were creating fine-enough music, but they could have produced better art.  The action of applying your skill, knowledge, and invention to create something is craft.    Your ability to craft well is a culmination of:Lessons;Practice;Failures;Coachings;Mentorships;Self-Help books;Juries;Performances;Workshops; orAny activity that involves practicing a skill.That’s the problem - we focus too much on practicing our building skills. School’s do us wrong.  In school, we learn to comply with rules, follow directions, memorize, and know the right answer. We’re focused too much on the wrong part of the process. What if we were pushed to think more about ideas? Or understanding different mediums we can use to communicate? Exposure to more and more ways of expressing our ideas? What if we were encouraged not to memorize, but to apply knowledge to problems that don’t have the right answers, but only “the best” solutions? If we did, we would be learning how to create better art.  Create better art by:Generating an idea;Visualize the form;Pick an idiom that best resonates with those you seek to serve;Define the structure; and thenApply craft.Don’t focus too much in any one area; balance is essential.

To be a better artist, spend time developing the form of your work.  With a piece of paper and a pencil, do the following:Write out your idea.Write out the form your idea will take.Describe the idiom you’ll use to reach those you seek to serve.Now describe the structure of your work.What’s the structure?What do I include?What do I leave out?How do I arrange my ideas?How will I build this product/service/piece?What if this is a song?What do I include? A hook, one bridge, a breakdown.What do I leave out? Solos, extended sections, the verse about my car.How do I arrange my ideas? Write out the song structure, “the form.“How will I build this piece? I’ll spend time each day working on one section. Then I’ll ask a trusted friend/advisor to review my work.Organizing your idea, your process, and your talent into a meaningful way that produces something better is structure. The mistake that many of us make is, we start with “structure” and then go to the other steps.  Bit by bit, part by part, and (not “side-by-side” for my theater fans) with purpose, you’ll start creating better art, in all its forms.

To date, on the “Be a Better Artist Series,” I’ve discussed generating ideas and how to realize those ideas with form. But, recognizing the “form” work will take is part of the game, we must understand its “idiom.“Consider this blog as an example.  Idea: ideas and insights for musicians struggling to find meaningful work.Form: the written word.Idiom: a blog.How about a song?Idea: a message for people attracted to bad relationships.Form: a song.Idiom: a country song.Parenthetically speaking, I’ve got no reason for picking country music other than it seemed an entirely reasonable choice of genre (read: idiom) for this type of song.  The idiom you choose is one that will best resonate with those you seek to serve. Additionally, there’s no right answer. There’s only the answer that might resonate the best. I could express my idea through the written form through any number of idioms: a printed newsletter, a painting, an infographic, you name it.  To create better art, start with an idea, visualize the form, and then pick an idiom that best resonates with your audience. For me, I’ll continue to use this blog; it seems to work.

An idea only exists in your head or your journal. It does not exist in any other concrete form we can manipulate into something that makes the “something better.” We need to think about - “form.“The “Form” is what the idea looks like when realized in our world. I wanted to communicate my insights and learnings to the world. I chose the “written word” as a “form” to express my ideas.  You may have an idea for a piece that speaks to people’s attraction to poor relationships. You want to express this idea in the form of a song with lyrics. Or perhaps through an instrumental piece? Maybe it’s visual and not aural?   You express your idea to the world through “form.“You’ll know the form you need by thinking about a few points.Identify the talents you can bring to bear.Think about how people will want to interact with your idea.Meditate and use your “mind’s eye” to visualize.Create better art by starting first with an idea, then think about how you’ll express it to the world. Identify the form.