Visiting Creative Crossroads with my AI Therapist
When a recent pitch didn't sell, I found myself at a familiar crossroads. Creative careers can be loaded with dips, reversals, and moments of reckoning. The metrics used to evaluate our work can feel subjective and capricious when, more often, it’s just about not having the right thing for the right person at the right time.
After decades of testing the veracity of the 80/20 rule as it pertains to scribbling – more like 90/10? I no longer take the swing and a miss personally. I see it as an opportunity to step back, reassess, and take stock before plunging back into the practice I know and love.
But post-WGA Strike-pocalypse, with LA Production down 40%, streamers in debt, mini rooms, AI rising, international content being excellent, layoff palooza and eyeballs eschewing linear –
How do I move forward when the familiar paths seem to lead nowhere?
Although I still have a few more quarters of WGA Health Plan coverage, I’m not currently in therapy. I am a subscriber to Chat GPT Pro. So, while walking through the neighborhood, I dictated some context and asked Sam Altman’s baby how I might reframe and recommit.
What the LLM suggested is trite, obvious, and exactly what I needed to hear. By way of Chat GPT, here are eight essential questions the bot says every creative - whether veteran or newcomer - might consider when a road closure deposits them at a crossroads to nowhere:
What Lights Your Creative Fire?
Instead of focusing on market trends or what might sell, start with what genuinely excites you. Energy is contagious, and authentic passion often leads to our best work.
What's Your Creative Legacy?
Shift your thinking from "landing the next gig" to "making your mark." What stories do you want to be remembered for? What themes or messages matter most to you?
Redefining Success
The metrics that drove us in our early careers might not serve us now. What would a meaningful definition of success look like for you today?
Letting Go to Move Forward
We all carry accumulated beliefs about "how things work" in our creative fields. Which of these beliefs might be holding you back? What industry "rules" might you need to unlearn?
Finding the Joy Again
Remember when writing was fun? When you wrote simply for the love of it? How can you recapture that sense of experimentation and discovery?
Small Steps, Big Impact
Sometimes, the path forward isn't about grand gestures but small, consistent actions. What tiny steps could you take today toward your renewed vision?
Mentorship and Service
Your experience is valuable. Could sharing your knowledge open new doors? How might teaching or mentoring others reignite your creative spark?
The Exciting Edge of Fear
What creative risks have you been avoiding? Often, our fears point us toward our most important work. What would happen if you embraced that uncertainty?
Okay... None of those are questions I haven’t asked myself before. But I can’t deny it was helpful hearing it from the nascent Wintermute on my iPhone. The scribbler's hustle isn’t for everyone. It rarely gets boring and is filled with opportunities for personal growth and even the occasional moment of creative fulfillment. It would be nice if a consistent paycheck were on the menu. But at the freelance restaurant, uncertainty and anxiety come with the dinner.
So, just like I did when my first 14 spec screenplays didn’t sell, I'm getting back to work, keeping my output high and my overhead low.
