What It Means to Take Creative Work Seriously

01 Jul 2025 #misc

It’s clear when you’re taking a relationship seriously.

You spend time with your loved one and stop looking for somebody else.

But what about a creative project? What does taking writing, painting, or coding seriously mean?

I started writing in 2018, but I didn’t treat it seriously until 2024.

For me, taking my writing seriously meant:

• Showing up consistently
• Studying other writers’ work
• Putting my writing in front of others
• Challenging myself out of my comfort zone
• Writing about other subjects apart from coding
• Hanging around other writers online
• Buying my first writing course
• Listening to feedback

With those actions, writing stopped being something I did only in my spare time and when inspiration struck to become part of my everyday rhythm. They help me build the confidence to call myself a “writer.”

Taking a creative project seriously means committing it by showing up and working on improving your skills.

Tom Critchlow, with his post Taking Blogging Seriously, got me thinking about all this.