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All the creators need to read this. This is so well written Vinamre - you aren't a machine you are called a creative ; a creator for a reason. Creativity requires freedom, focus more on your craft. The reverse will keep happening though and I'm also guilty of it.
A 2025 message for creators
Every creative starts with the need to express. They see the world differently. So, they boldly find a medium and try to say it. It’s like losing your virginity. Scary and exciting. And because many creatives are high-strung, neurotic, and horny, the creative act makes them feel okay about themselves. But it’s like a drug. Once you discover something makes you feel good, you hump it like a dog. You become an addict.
Gripped by a mad fever, you scare the NPCs. No wonder the best writers, actors, and musicians can write, act, and play for hours without breaking a sweat. It’s meditative.
But all of this shit is fine until its time for the work to meet the world.
The first, “hey, can I show you something I made?”
The first time people sort of kinda know you because of your work.
And then it’s numbers on a screen.
The first whiff of success.
Pay attention or you’ll miss how it happens.
As soon as people start talking about you, the first thing that goes is your originality.
Now you sing for the crowd, you regale your audience, and you make shit for them.
You’re a slave to attention. When the public loves you, what they’re really saying is, “hey, we accept you. You’re okay.”
It’s like cocaine for your ego. Now you don’t give two fucks about saying something.
You don’t care about originality. You quietly trade your unique view on the world for what the crowd wants.
In content creation, this is when art becomes business. And look, I have no problem with art making money. No artist should be broke, lonely, low-status, and lying in a fetal position while they nurse their dick or their depression.
But success comes with its downside. You’re in maintenance mode. You’re very much like a turd stuck in the colon that’s stinking up your innards. I’ve seen that when creators hit a certain numerical benchmark, they get uncomfortably serious. They stop having fun. They join the ranks of the cortisol elite. They play hamster on the eternal wheel of likes, comments, subscribers.
In this way, politicians and creators are populists. Roll out the scheme that appeases the masses. Make the content that the lowest common denominator relates with.
I’m digressing. Once the public support you, even the most unbusinesslike dude starts throwing words on the whiteboard.
Scale.
Systems.
Growth.
Team.
Strategy.
Community.
Monetisation.
Engagement.
Personal brand.
It’s the corporatisation of content. You try to run yourself like Tata Steel. But you’re not Ratan Tata. You’re Sadat Hassan Manto. You’re unrunnable. You’re a wild force, a spontaneous blurter of truths, a master of creation. Usually, this tussle has 90% of the creatives settle in the comfortable middle. No wonder many actors and visual artists despise full-time creators.
I’ll finish with my story as I clearly have many things to say. When I scaled Dostcast, many people got involved. Managers, editors, graphic designers, writers, strategists, producers. I registered a company and tried to be a businessman. I am not bad at it. But the moment there are stakeholders, you walk a tightrope. There is pressure. You begin thinking like your collaborators. And you start to assume things on your audience’s behalf. If you compare the bowel movements of the founder of an post-IPO company and a creator with a big team, you’ll find they’re alike. Pressure gives haemorrhoids.
It’s taken me a few trips round the sun to figure this out. You don’t want to be miserable doing this shit. There are no market forces. There is no audience. It’s just your work of art and what happens to it when it goes out there. Just because more people are involved doesn’t mean it becomes serious. In fact, I read somewhere, “if you’re not silly, this is your reminder to be silly.” For creatives who’ve made it this far, just take some poppers and loosen that stiff asshole. Release the tension. People are smarter than you think. They want to see you deeply you’re in touch with your soul. Sure, they’ll give the chocolate ice cream omelet bhujia a lot of views. But they’ll secretly hate you for thinking they’re stupid.
All creation stems from within you.
Have some fun. Loose the tie and the Excel Sheet and the data mining.
Bring back the fun.
Akash Madhwal gifted tickets to a young cricketer to watch all the games of Mumbai Indians at Wankhede 👏 [Divya Fofani Instagram]
- A humble person, Akash Madhwal.