The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Two - Communicate only that which you truly know about in your art.

by NDK Creative Artist

As we continue this series of deeper explanations of the points of the Code of a Creative Artist we come to one of the seemingly simpler points…

Communicate only that which you truly know about in your art. If you do not know then find out.

What can you know about your own thoughts? What thoughts can you think about the thoughts you have on any given topic? This is not about existentialism, or the metaphysical, I’m simply pointing up that there are things you can know through a process of consideration. It is one way to know about the intangible and when it comes to creating things that nobody ever heard of before, well, you’re talking about things that are essentially unknown until you create a body of knowledge around them as in the subject of world building, which I know a little bit about.

…realize just how much we actually know…

When you’re creating a story, or a song, or a poem, we often do not realize just how much we actually know about them and what they signify, not only to ourselves, but of the lives and times in which we exist. We don’t realize because we’re caught up in the throes of creation and it is only later as we reassess them and their impact, that we begin to discover the worth and value of such works, if indeed, they have any inherent in them.

It is story that sells…

Knowing about your work and what it means is part and parcel to being able to market those works as well. It is story that sells things. Story is that important in every human endeavor. However, telling your own story is not always the best way to promote and market your work; first tell your story to someone who has your best interests in mind and will last the distance of the journey, through the skeletons you and others have piled into your closet, and then have them tell that story. The story of your work’s creation is the story behind what you create, and that part of the story is what you know about the process of creating your original work.

Being aware of this is very useful…

But the concept of “communicating that which you truly know about in your art” goes even deeper than this. As you establish each part of the work, you are also creating a lot of knowledge around those parts. Being aware of this is very useful, and certainly being able to go back later and reflect upon it, and then communicate that to others, deepens the value and meaning of the work. For storytellers, every part of a story is built upon the previous part that establishes the story, and often the implied or alluded knowledge which will be revealed or not throughout a story. An example of this would be The Lord of the Rings, where Tolkien created not just a story, but a rich history and folklore known as the Silmarillion that adds a great deal of depth to the story. The experience of creating, of overcoming the challenges that lead to finished and completed work generate a field of knowledge and expertise that has value, and the value that it has is not just in terms of materialism, but in terms of the conviction and truth it lends to the works created, and this is what this particular point of the code is all about. It’s about communicating truth.

…the process of entertaining reveals and creates…

Storytellers are essentially liars…we tell stories, things that are not true, apparently, that lead to the entertainment of others, which as part of the process of entertaining reveals and creates insight into life, and these inform lives, and to the degree that they are successful at this, they create culture, for the things that people in a society take into their collective life, become artefacts of culture. Then there are the subjects we write of, which are based on real things in the world, whether we’re writing a story, a poem, a song, or creating a picture, and this is where an aspect of artistic integrity comes into play. If our works are going to become a part of culture, and civilization, and thus affect the lives of others then what we create is by this very fact, going to call for a degree of responsibility dependent upon the effect one wishes to create.

“There are stories behind every point of this code.”

When I first finalized this code, I showed it to a television producer, from Oakland, California, who read it very carefully, and she said as she looked at me very sharply, “There are stories behind every point of this code.” She was right, though I was not about to tell her the stories that are behind the development of this particular document, and frankly to tell these stories would, in the case of a document like this, actually diminish the value of the principles the code offers. The point of such a code is for individuals to read and consider the value of these principles and to ask themselves what value these may offer to them and the activities in which they are involved when it comes to being a creator of works of art and entertainment.

The principles of this code are the distillation of years of experience, of looking at and being a part of and studying the world of art & entertainment at a lot of different levels, from creating, to delivering, to producing, to executive directing all sorts of aspects of art & enterainment, and related subjects. They are not just my story - you can read about or live such experiences as are behind these principles today, and you will find that aspects of this code apply. These principles are living things, they are not dead things. They are bound up in knowledge gained through experience, consideration and constant testing. They form a basis for action, and a foundation for a career of creativity.

These principles should be easy to agree with and hard to take any exception to. If they are easy to agree with, and hard to take exception to, then they have value and are grounded in evaulated and considered experience.

If you use these principles, then you can have a smoother, easier creative life and that is why they were brought into existence. It is not, however, always easy to keep them, or live and create by them. But principles are like that. They do not, as principles, make your decisions for you, nor do they absolve you from responsibility for the decisions you take, when you use these principles to guide those decisions. The code is simply a set of principles that a creative individual can use to help them develop a viable creative career.

“…everyone’s a critic”

Works of art & entertainment are held up to scrutiny by all who come into contact with them; “everyone’s a critic.” So, when you are crafting such a work it is good to make sure that the work you are crafting holds up to that scrutiny, and this means ensuring that what it communicates to others is a true expression of the author. This brings into play aspects of plagiarism, intellectual property rights, and various things to do with creative industry law. For such a briefly stated principle, there is a lot to know and consider that can be easily brushed aside. In other words, it has to be your work that you are communicating. This is what “that which you truly know about,” encompasses.

Where do we go now?

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If you'd rather we did all the hard work, you're in luck. Here's a list of articles that are related to this one:

• Foundation Principles — The Declaration of Creative Independence and the Code of a Creative Artist
• The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Zero - There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to creativity
• The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Fourteen - Creating Ideal Scenes
• The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Seventeen - The Viewpoints of Others
• The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Ten - Being a professional artist puts you in the position of being in business