“Kill your darlings.”
This is a term for creatives that means that even though you may like some part(/scene/character) very, very much, you need to be able to make decisions for the betterment of the larger story.
It refers to being able to step back and see the whole project and make decisions for THAT instead of your personal feelings.
This is how creatives improve. This is how creatives in places of privilege (they get their projects on the big screen) stay humble—for lack of a better word—and prioritize their story and audience, instead of their personal wants.
“Feedback isn’t a personal attack.”
Another BIG, important lesson for creatives. The artistic process is dialogue and that dialogue includes feedback. Said feedback can’t and won’t be nothing but praise. Not all feedback needs to nor ought to be taken seriously and enacted, but it still leads to improvement—especially those who are in uninterrogated places of privilege and leaning on biases. It also includes being able to listen to others in the writing rooms!
Good artists understand THIS (both points), instead of being lauded as the most talented. Praise and the demand to have nothing but it creates stagnation, even deevolution, and a needy, immature creative that can’t handle what the artistic process involves, especially when they’ve “made it big.” These creatives throw public fits, attack people who “hate” on their creation even if they’re ostensibly fans, and even insult such fans and send their fan base after them. “Proof” that they’re a good creative and deserve their place and whomever’s “hating” on them is stupid and childish is that place in the industry.
Various creative classes do this with peer reviews, and some form of feedback day involving the whole class or groups.
James Cameron, who made a colonization white-savior fantasy that exotifies native/indigenous women (literally used a MINOR’s features without consent nor reimbursement, Q’orianka Kilcher), uses extant indigenous peoples/cultures as an easy cheat to making alien cultures (not real representation and using), hasn’t done anything with his vast amounts of wealth to actually help any of these peoples, could not try to step out of his whiteness and westernness to have truly “alien” soundtrack nor have bipoc co-creators (has token actors who took on a LOT), couldn’t even hire people of those peoples to be those aliens, and couldn’t interrogate or try to step out of his whiteness nor Christianity for his movies.
Vivziepop, who dismisses things she’s done in the past—as an adult, hired a cowriter and VA who’s known for rape “jokes” and has been recently outed for blackface. Who does not, in fact, have real representation for the queer community nor sexual violence victims, hired a rape fetishist on the team and had them handle that character/dynamic, defended that employee’s position by lying about their own victim status and weaponizing victim status against those (many of them victims) speaking out against how wrong it was, sacrificing narrative and characterization for a gay relationship that’s abusive but victim blames the victim in it, uwu-ifying the abuser, platforms a surprising amount of sexual harassment (obviously in a way that enables it; it’s a punch line), fetishizing incest/twincest (it included merch, and very obviously wasn’t just for a bit in the narrative), has no real BIPOC representation, sacrifices her female character LEADS for whatever the male characters are doing, only writes the same dynamics of main casts, and weaponizes her audience (fans) against “haters.”
That Marvel comic artist who can’t draw women and throws a fit whenever someone points it out.
Emerald Fennel, who made that “adaption” (white woman fanfic) of Wuthering Heights.
Kojima, of MGS creation, who can’t let go of his racism, colorism, and misogyny, and gets too big on himself about making insane plots and plot twists.
Gooseworx and co, who can’t take true responsibility for racism and enablement of such (micro) aggressions that led to larger actions.
Bryke, of AtlA creation, who couldn’t diversify the writers room of their series revolving around eastern and Inuit cultures, and forced a romance between two of the cast (12/13 and 15/16) that did not fit well into the narrative—and apparently also bullied a minor fan for not shipping it.
(Aaand there’s actually more about just these creatives.)