Just so you know: Putting things out there in this way was very much not the plan.
What was the plan was to have a Ferrari of a business polished, assembled, and ready to purr out the gates while I sipped on lemon water from a cut-crystal glass and marvelled at this thrumming machine I’d shaped with my own, slightly freckled hands
But then I wondered:
What would it look like to let people watch this whole thing being built?
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been documenting the behind the scenes of building the business bits of Big Chicken and sharing short videos on the socials as I figure out this whole bonkers adventure of illustrating a book while trying to not let my mind shag itself silly worrying I might eff the whole thing up.
And it’s not as though I’m the first person to fling open the workshop doors and let people watch while everything, including the person making it, is still sweaty and unsure.
Austin Kleon is one of the best-known examples from the creative world. His book Show Your Work! does exactly what it says on the tin, encouraging us to share the processes, influences, experiments and scrappy bits surrounding our work instead of only presenting the pristine finished object.
No disappearing into a cupboard for our friend Austin.
Nathan Barry did something similar while building ConvertKit, now Kit, documenting his journey from side hustle to the kick-ass email platform that I’m using to talk to you right now.
These examples make me feel considerably better than the Reddit thread I stumbled on, where one person’s answer to the “should you build in public” question was:
‘No, it’s dumb’
A refreshing take. Thank you, eandi1984, with a small ‘e’. Why use capitals when authority so obviously becomes you.
‘Build in public’ is not a new idea and there are plenty of ways to do it that support what you’re creating and jack up the fun-levels at the same time.
Plus: You don’t have to publish your bank balance, snot-cry your deepest fears on a livestream or cast every decision out there for Angela from Kansas to give you feedback on.
But if you do find yourself stuck in a cycle of waiting for things to be finished and dressed up like Lady Gaga at the Met Gala before anyone can cop a glance, you might discover there’s something unexpectedly useful about sharing the construction as it happens.
Or, at the very least, as they say over in Unattributable Quote Land: don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
So, as someone currently in the heart-on-her-sleeve phase of sharing her bits all over the World Wide Web, here are three things I’ve discovered about building in public that might encourage you to try it.
Thing #1: It’s made me clearer on my voice and my intentions. Weirdly, it’s made me feel more confident.
This one absolutely depends on how you approach it because, first and foremost, building in public does not mean flinging open every drawer and allowing strangers to rummage through your psychological underwear.
But sharing my behind-the-scenes with like minds has created a feeling of camaraderie. That we’re all swirling in this universe of building things together.
Knowing others are joining me for this ride has fortified my vision and freed up my words by reminding them of their actual job: to transport my ideas from inside my brain and help someone else do something with theirs in a way that’s useful and joyful.
Remember: Fun must always be the filter.
What’s more, I’ve found liberation in the simple practice of being honest. That you don’t have to be anything that you’re not. That you’re allowed to figure things out as you go. That you’re allowed to be a part of the conversation.
Who’d have thunk it?
We’re allowed to just tell the truth and share things as we go.
Thing #2: It’s good for my perfectionist tendencies. I’m no longer waiting ‘for the right time’.
This one really slapped me.
I mean, it’s wild how little you need to get started. And what you can create from that place:
An email list. A social media account. A newsletter. Conversations. Relationships with real people.
The foundations of everything.
You can share your ideas, your process, your art, narrate your experience, do it on the fly, shape and mould as you go.
There’s really no such thing as ready. You can absolutely start as you are.
And in truth: I think it’s an advantage. You bring people in on the adventure. You let them be a part of what you’re making and creating.
Your process can be enhanced by their input. Their questions and responses can reveal what resonates, what needs explaining and what the work might become next.
This way, it’s possible to create so much more than a body of work. Together, you’re creating a community, and beyond that a shared culture.
And from the place that I sit now, praise be to the unicorns that I started before I was ready.
The imperfect version of me now is much further along than the imagined version was ever going to be.
Thing #3: It’s generous. Down with the gatekeeping.
One of the things I love most about documenting the behind-the-scenes is the cross-pollination. Someone sees how you approached a problem and adapts it for their own work. Someone asks a question that sends you barrelling down a new path or sends fireworks off in your brainspace about something you hadn’t considered before.
We discover that everyone is improvising.
Sharing the process doesn’t diminish the work or hand away everything that makes it valuable. But it does leave useful breadcrumbs.
We learn from each other, help each other and make better, stranger, more interesting things because none of us is pretending that the best of us exists behind a velvet curtain.
Which also makes the whole undertaking considerably more fun.
And if I haven’t said it enough times already, fun is one of my most important filters.
But enough now about me. I’d love to know what’s happening in your own behind the scenes adventures.
What are you making, building or figuring out at the moment?
Comment below and let me know! I read and reply to every response, and always love hearing from you.
xx Jane
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