Obscurity, in some ways, is more valuable to the creator than fame (although I loved this piece and I'm glad the author shared it here). Guessing what the audience expects, or seeking external validation, can slowly (or quickly) suck the joy out of the creative process. I interviewed author Michelle Kuo about creativity, and her advice:

“The most important thing I can tell you is to relish writing in obscurity. I feel that I was the happiest as a writer when I was in hiding, when I was invisible, when I was secretly writing, stealing away portions of time at work, or writing on scraps of paper, or forming sentences in my head on the commute. That was a time before I had published really anything and before I even thought my writing would become a book, I was just trying to organize or to create order in my emotional life.”

I wrote a book on creativity with Holloway, and I wanted to share two of my favorite prompts:

Ignore the stats: https://www.holloway.com/g/creative-doing/sections/ignore-th...

Make something you won't ever show anyone else: https://www.holloway.com/g/creative-doing/sections/make-some...