Recently I was having a conversation with a friend wherein she mentioned that she had been doing some writing. I was immediately so excited for her, because I write too and absolutely love it, and inquired all about the classes she is taking. When she told me about her classes she had forgotten to say (or so I thought) that the classmates read and give notes on each other’s work. So when I told her about the class that I am currently taking, and how we all send each other what we have been working on and give our notes to each other, she was perplexed; much to her chagrin to learn that you actually have to share your work with other people! It made me laugh and then seriously consider what sharing my work has done for me. In the past, before taking classes, I would tend to feel scared or self-conscious to show other people the art that I had been working on. A stew of thoughts would fly through my head, “What if they didn’t like it, didn’t connect with it, thought it was no good, thought I had no skill?” before I had been in a classroom with other people trying to do the exact same thing that I was in the process of struggling with myself.
     When you get to show your work to other people it can be nerve wrecking, but there is a sense of accomplishment that comes along with having shown someone what you worked on. This is basically the first step to having a successful career as an artist. No one ever sold a project that they didn’t have to pitch at least a little bit! You need to be comfortable with, and able to display your work in a way that makes people love it and want it. If you are confident and secure in your work, people are more likely to love it, want more of it, and want to buy it (this applies to writing, acting, drawing, dancing, singing, really any type of art that you can dream up). If you are uncertain in your art, or you seem to be very self-conscious, people are less likely to admire what you work on, because if you do not love it how are they supposed to?
     In working on projects, it is always important to show other people what you have been working on. Not only is this a good public relations point (if you show the public that you are always busy with work, you seem more legitimate and they want to cast you in things or see you book more work), but it is also a selling point for yourself. You want to be likeable in every way possible. Larry David, for example, is not a very nice person but audiences love him regardless. That is because he is great at selling himself, and his work. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting comfortable with showing people your work, because, in the end, that’s all that acting really is. Showing people your work to create and effect.