Part 3 of The Corporate Creative Series

The benefit of my social media phase prior to developing a manuscript is that it was naturally wired to give quick feedback. Likes are easy to come by, but in my case, when a Gen Z shares, comments or saves my post that means a lot! Bear in mind I write about personal development, life skills and career strategy. It doesn’t have the sizzle of mainstream content. 

I picked up that imposter syndrome, dealing with grief (especially losing a parent), toxic relationships and struggling to navigate career conversations with parents were important areas to double click on, amongst others. I also reviewed the frequently asked questions from my Instagram Live sessions and WhatsApp groups. Finally, I reflected on the message I wanted to share and added some topics that had not been discussed but were necessary to complete the narrative.

At this stage, it was clear that I was writing a book for boys and girls to navigate the transition to adulthood i.e. a guide to adulting. It was also clear that these were the topics that African Gen Zs were seized with and wanted to learn more about.

The next series of feedback came during the manuscript phase. I sent out my manuscript to 4 different groups over a period of 6 months. Each group was based on certain skills or perspectives. This meant I was getting continuous feedback on a rolling basis. On days when I felt discouraged or stuck, I was fortunate to receive feedback from someone that would invigorate me and point out what I must do to go from good to great.

To be honest, I sent out drafts that I knew had some bad writing but at the time were all I had the bandwidth to produce. I knew what I wanted to say but hadn’t yet found the best way to express it. Consequently, I didn’t expect glowing reviews. I was looking for confirmation that I had covered all the right concepts and could now funnel down to writing quality. 

I share this as someone who is not a professional author: I basically co-opted an agile sprint-planning mindset to get the job done. I used this same approach for my first book as well.     

Key takeaways

1. The ideas for your creative project don’t have to come to you as a stroke of genius. Try a few concepts and get quick feedback on what people are interested in. With a busy corporate and family life, waiting for inspiration for the perfect idea could leave you stuck. However, if you start iterating, the discussions and resultant reflection will lead to the best path for you.

2. Be vulnerable with trusted people capable of adding value to your creative process. Creative projects feel very exposing - especially those that are not in our zone of competence. Be open to constructive criticism as you share your work.

3. Request feedback early enough to change course if you need to. Be wary of having such a deep emotional attachment to your project that you delay seeking guidance until you deem it presentable or perfect. Imagine if I spent the entire 3.5 years working on a manuscript void of any feedback. How do you think I would feel about criticism when I finally shared it? I’d be crushed or intolerant of any views in opposition to my own. That’s a dangerous position to be in. You risk being blind to your faults.

4. Could ‘someone’ steal your idea? Yes it’s possible. Hence why the caveat is to share with trusted people. What I’ve learnt is that many people talk, not many act and even fewer execute well. If your idea is stolen by a friend who can execute well / better than you, there’s a real problem but how likely is that? Seriously? 

What’s your experience with getting feedback on your creative work? Please share a comment below.

Also, share this article with a friend / colleague who’d be interested in this conversation.