Protect Your Creative Energy

Feedback is a required part of creative life.

Whether you're a freelancer, work for a studio, or run your own business, dealing with critique is non-negotiable.

For many, it’s the absolute worst part of the job. But it doesn't have to be a source of stress.

My method focuses on removing emotion and applying expertise to make sure the project, and your creative spark, wins.

1. Read It, Then Take a Break.

This can be the hardest part sometimes. It's not easy to be directly critiqued for work you poured hours into over the course of multiple days.

Still, you gotta do it. So I suggest you read the feedback once, absorb the main points, and then walk away. Don’t respond, don’t touch the project, and don’t even think about it for at least 30 minutes. Let any emotional sting pass.

2. Distill the Feedback to 5 Keys.

Once you've had time to digest the feedback and reset for a moment, go back through the notes and distill them down to the five (or so) most substantial changes.

I’m not talking about minor suggestions like, "Clean up the audio at 0:34." I’m talking about changes that your average viewer or audience would actually notice, like "Replace the music entirely" or "We need a different color palette."

If you find yourself needing to make more than a handful of substantial changes, that’s a big red flag. Step back and figure out what went wrong in the initial communication or strategy phase before you start editing.

3. Rewrite the Feedback in Your Own Words.

This is a powerful step in removing any potentially emotional language. Rewrite the essential points of feedback in your own neutral language.

Now, when you implement the changes, you are not re-reading any negative tone or attitude the client might have had because their lunch order was messed up that day. You also don't have to be reminded of minor suggestions that don't actually need to be followed. You only see the task that needs to be done.

4. Remember the Truth is in Between.

This is where you earn your money. What you originally created wasn't perfect. Even Hollywood screenplays and films go through multiple stages of edits and revisions. The client, for all their urgency, isn't perfect either.

Your job is to take your original vision, combine it with the feedback received, and then decide what's important for the project's success.

Your value lies in making the best decisions for the project, not just because the client said so, and certainly not just because you made it that way and you like it.

🔑 Keys For You

Take everything with a grain of salt, realize that your original work isn't perfect, the client isn't perfect either, and use your hard-won expertise to make the best final decisions. That’s how you ship great work without sacrificing your creative spark.