Exciting changes...

Yup, I'm switching up my game once again. Don't know how you put up with me, but thank you for trying. 🖤

Hi friend. 🤗

I’m home again after my little vacation at my family’s summer house. It’s been 2 1/2 weeks of much-needed sleeping, eating, reading novels and socializing. And lots of thinking.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my progress this past year and where I want to go from here. What I love doing, what I want to do more of, and what I might not want to keep doing. And as a result of that, I'm making a few changes to the way I show up and create content. (Don't worry, they're exciting changes...)

The view from my family’s summer house. A good place for resting + reflecting.

First off, I'm pressing pause on my YouTube channel. At least for now.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started my channel. Still feels like new thing to me. But at the same time, I feel exhausted and a bit jaded. I've always known that YouTube is neither my "main thing" nor something I can see myself doing for a long while. It was always a fun experiment and a learning journey. And I have had so much fun growing my channel and learning how to make videos. It has helped me get over my fear of showing myself and talking on camera. It has kickstarted the growth of this newsletter, and helped me make better courses. And it's earning me a bit of extra money each month. For me, starting a YouTube channel has been a huge success, and I'm proud of myself for doing it.

However.

Running a YouTube channel takes a loooooot of time. Keeping up a weekly upload schedule (which is kind of the minimum, if you want to see any real return on investment) has taken almost all of my time and attention. And left very little for other things. Like creating courses (90% of my income), painting (without a camera hovering above), and working on other projects.

On top of that, doing YouTube professionally and relying on it as a major income source is very insecure. I don't have any control over what changes YouTube makes to their algorithms and the way they pay creators. Any professional youtuber will tell you that their income fluctuates wildly, and they’re constantly at the mercy of the algorithm and the demands of their audience. Of course that messes with your head, and with your creativity. I’m wary of that. I'm kind of dreading what would happen if my channel were to get much bigger. It comes with a price, and I'm not sure I want to pay that price.

So we'll see. Maybe I'll re-commit to YouTube again in the future. Maybe I'll just post the odd video if and when I feel like it. Or maybe my YouTube experiment is over. I don't know. Regardless, I will still create other types of content. My channel will remain and I will continue to check in and reply to comments every now and then. Any new videos I make will also be published here on my Substack for you to enjoy ad-free.

Bye for now, Art by Louise! See ya later, maybe.

Second: I'm going to start writing more. Again.

You might know this, either because you've been with me for a long while or because I've mentioned it here and there: but I'm originally a writer. Writing is my first creative love. Writing is how I've made a living most of my adult life. Before I started painting seriously a few years ago, I mainly wrote. Essays, magazine articles, freelance copywriting, a non-fiction book, and short stories.

And I'm starting to really miss it. I thought I fell out of love with writing when I burnt out, but to my relief, I probably just needed a long break from it.

And it's not as if I haven't been writing all this time. I have, in the form of video scripts, newsletters, and little bits of text for my website, stuff like that. But I haven't been "writing-writing". Taking the time to really express myself verbally, using my full vocabulary and storytelling capacity. I haven't used my writing muscles for a while. And now I'm aching to.

I always feel the most like myself when I write. I feel like I can give more through writing than I ever could sitting in front of a camera. So rest assured, you will get to know me even better from now on. (For better or worse. You might read some of my stuff and be like "Ew, I can't stand this person" and unsubscribe. That's totally okay. It's the price I pay for putting my heart and soul out on the internet for others to judge. 😂) I do hope you'll like my writings though, and that our friendship will deepen.

So what happens now?

Well, I will continue to paint and draw. And show what I paint and drawn. And teach drawing and painting through my Skillshare classes. I will also start putting out my classes and courses outside of Skillshare, to be purchased separately (and affordably). Because I know not everyone can or wants to pay for a Skillshare membership.

There will be no more videos for now. Instead, I will write. Personal essays, articles and stories. About the same stuff you've heard me talk about in my videos and in my newsletter: Living a creative life, running a creative business, dealing with fear, perfectionism and limiting beliefs. About how to practice a creative craft. How to remain calm, sane and productive among distractions and stress. As well as lots of tips, tricks and advice for creatives, artists and writers.

I want to impart everything I've learned (the hard way) through my 15+ years of making a living as a creative. And that, for me, is best done through text and not through video. I'm aiming at publishing at least one, but preferably two, pieces of writing a week, here on my Substack.

I will also narrate a lot of what I write and put it out as a podcast episode. So you can choose to listen to my writings as well. You might know about my little... *ehum* podcast attempt a few months back. (Wrote about it here and here.) Well, I'm bringing it back alive. You should be able to find it in any podcast app by searching for "Confessions of a terrified creative". For now, it will just be my written essays in audio form, but who knows in the future. Maybe I will work up the courage to invite a guest, or (yikes) talk off-script...

Bottom line: Stay subscribed and you will get everything I create delivered to your inbox. Everything I make will stay free for now. And if you really like what I do and want to say thanks/help support me, you can become a paid subscriber. And forever have my love and gratitude. 🖤

That's it for now! I'm gonna continue writing now. Am working on a short story I started a year ago, plus have lots of essays in the works. Some of them new, some of them previously published and re-worked. Can't wait to share it all with you.

I hope summer's treating you well. Take care, and I'll see you soon.

With love,

Louise