Or maybe you don’t say that. Maybe you are completely unaware that there is a revolution going on. I know for a long time, I was unaware. Trapped in the ongoing cycle of lack and wondering how I was ever going to get my work out there to the public so I could really and truly call myself a writer, I began to feel hopeless. Then, one day, I discovered the internet.
No, smarty pants. This did not happen last week. It happened many years ago, and it’s been an ongoing discovery on ways to not only put your work out there for the public to consume and enjoy, but also how to promote yourself so others can find you and become a part of what you’re doing. Your own personal revolution, if you will.
And speaking of revolutions, we are all getting tired of the way things have been done. I admit. Recently on Twitter, I lightly razzed author/editor John Josheph Adams about his anthologies only including best-selling, well-known authors, but on the inside I felt very passionately about it. Yes, I love Stephen King. I idolize few people because idolatry is just silly, but I do have a small Neil Gaiman shrine on which I occasionally burn incense and make sacrifice to… okay, I don’t really, but you get the point. We all have influences and mentors, people that without whom we might never have found the inspiration to embark on our own journey, and that’s fantastic. Those people deserve mad props. They deserve to live in their big houses, drive their awesome cars and go on living comfortable lives because frankly, they’ve all earned it.
The thing is, it’s time to hack the overgrowth from the path and veer off to the side a little bit. It’s time to make a new path for emerging greatness, and the thing is, the people who will forge this path will bust their humps to make it clear. People like Personal Effects: Dark Art author J.C. Hutchins, for example, who put themselves out there every day. I follow Hutch on Twitter (and you should too…) and this man is one of the most creative people I have ever had the pleasure of personally interacting with. Day and night his mind is moving over ways to promote his work, to get the word out there, to please and interact with his fans. Granted, one day ‘ole J.C. will be too big to interact with his friends and fans on the level he does now (you can wholeheartedly guarantee this, as talent like Hutch’s is rare and this guy is going places…) J.C. Hutchins is a revolutionary. That is why I talk about him so much. If you haven’t ever heard of him, get on this. Soon, he’s all everyone will be talking about. Believe it.
Next, I want to talk about Aaron Mystery, independent animator and creator of Suckermouth.com. I did voiceover work for Aaron on a small project after meeting him on Twitter and have since gotten to know him and his work. He animates a wide variety of things, and often feels somewhat discouraged that his work that doesn’t feature bimbos and boobies doesn’t get the attention and praise that his more sexual work seems to get. And he’s right. Sex is good. Obviously we all like to watch those kinds of things, but there is more to life than bimbos and boobies. To me, Aaron is a revolutionary because he puts himself out there every day, trying to make the world a brighter place through his art. He deserves support, as far as I’m concerned.
Recently, I also had the pleasure of acquainting myself with independent filmmaker/podcaster Michael Bekemeyer. Bekemeyer decided that he was taking his dreams and goals into his own hands and he kicked off Let’s Make This Thing! Let’s Make This Thing is an experiment Bekemeyer has labeled as Filmmaking 2.0, and he is hoping to establish contacts and relationships with other likeminded people who potentially propel him and his projects toward completion and success. Michael Bekemeyer believes in the work he does so much that he is reaching out the world to bring it to life. This is a project and endeavor that is beyond worth being a part of.
Why? I’m gonna tell you.
Because it’s time that we as writers, artists, musicians, creators of all breed, take our careers back into our own hands and make them real. It’s time that we put our energy into our dreams so we can tell our dayjobs to stuff it… and if you like your day job, that’s okay too, but wouldn’t you rather be exerting your energy on the things you really love? I know I would and I actually write for a living–just not about the things that matter to me.
A revolution doesn’t have to be a violent thing, though at times it might get brutal. The world may resist it. I just keep looking at all the of the recycled hash that keeps circulating. It would seem that there is nothing new under the sun when Hollyweird keeps putting out remakes of all our favorite films… films that haven’t even died yet, or lost popularity. Films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and American Werewolf in London, for example… There are new stories out there, new movies waiting to be filmed and loved by you… let’s support the people who want to make those things happen by stepping away from the commercial hype of that which has come before us.
Let’s pave a new path and take arts and entertainment back into our own hands.
You rule, Jenn. Thanks for the kind words! This made my day.
If I say it was a great blog post, I’ll sound narcissistic. So, I’ll just say thank you.
MB
Huge Props.
[...] awesome Some, like Jennifer Hudock, author of the new podiobook The Goblin Market, say it’s a revolution, and that we have a worthy fight on our hands. … it’s time that we as writers, artists, [...]