7 Tips for Having Longevity In The Poetry Industry
Have you ever wondered what it takes to not only get started in the poetry industry, but to have a lasting career? Same here!
Lucky for you, Poet Life Podcast sat down to pick the brain of a pro full of that good knowledge.
Orville The Poet is a poet, host, brand ambassador, influencer, philanthropist, and much more. With his experiences, he’s picked up a ton of information that he’s sharing with all of us for creating a lasting career in the poetry industry.
All of the below are direct quotes from Orville The Poet (or slightly rewritten to fit the page instead of an off-the-cuff conversation) from season 3, episode 8 of the Poet Life Podcast.
1. It can’t just be a hobby
Hosting an open mic can’t just be a hobby. You have to actually really want to have one. Because if you’re just doing it for applause, you will fail.
I went to open mics and studied how it worked. What worked, what didn’t work. I was studying people who have their own open mic, or I would go and study the hosts. I would think, “This works well, this didn’t work well. I wish they had talked about this. This is cool. What would I say here?”
I was a sponge and took notes for two years. It took two years before I shared anything at an open mic. You’ve got to be a student and know what works for you. There’s a lot that we do differently now in 2020 that we didn’t do in 2013, 2014 or even 2019.
We learn, grow, make a mistake, and are not scared to fail. You can take risks, and you get the biggest rewards. Don’t be a fool, either. If you can only afford to take calculated risks, then make calculated risks.
You have to have a different level of sincerity for it. You have to really have a reverence for what it is you aspire to be.
At some point in your journey, you’re going to have to go back and look at who’s come before you to have any sort of longevity. Whatever art form you’re in or lane you’re in, you’re going to have to do that at some point. Imagine me doing poetry and not knowing who Maya Angelou is.
2. Have a plan before expectations
Expectations almost caused me to stop. You can have expectations when you’ve implemented a plan. If you haven’t implemented a plan and you're expecting things, you’re going to expect a lot of hurt and to be disappointed.
3. Assess your situation, honestly
Go look at your social media from when you first started to now. You might surprise yourself.
If you’re an artist and you want to build and get to the next level, you have to honestly, objectively, and genuinely look at where you are. What do you do best? Be honest with yourself. You may need your sound counsel around you — those people you really trust. Your squad that can tell you your stuff smells today, and you won’t be upset.
In order to actually make those moves, you need to get to that place. You have to be able to appropriately assess where you actually are. Sometimes humility can cripple your trajectory. If you are really good, but you think you suck, you’re degenerating yourself.
But if you think you should make a small step but really should be taking a plane, you could be crippling yourself. Unless you effectively assess where you are. So go to your counsel and ask what you do well and what you don’t.
4. Be disciplined and know what discipline looks like for you
It’s going to take a while of you consistently showing up for yourself for [your friends and family] to believe this is what you are actually about.
You should have a crazy work ethic. You better be writing. I have easily 60 poems that no one’s ever heard. They date back to 2009 and some as new as quarantine.
Do I write every day? Nope. I write when I’m inspired and sometimes it fizzles out. I don’t force it. I tried that one time and it was the worst experience ever.
5. Know that it’s not going to be profitable all the time
There were many nights where I went home in the negative. I was not making anything, paying out of my own pocket. Many nights where the next check I was going to get was already gone because I made a commitment.
6. Inspire yourself
I stopped. I stopped for years. I tried to leave it alone. I couldn’t. Sometimes you have to inspire yourself, push yourself, be your own locomotion.
Be your own self motivator. Because if you wait for other people to do it, who knows how long you’ll be waiting.
7. Don’t wait
Tomorrow isn’t promised. What are you doing waiting for tomorrow?
Look, these are just the highlights to the conversation that Orville The Poet had with Poet Life Podcast. Get even deeper in this discussion by listening to this episode anywhere you stream podcasts or watch it on YouTube. Trust us, you’ll want even more of this gold.
Orville is more than a poet or more than a host, he’s a philanthropist, educator, brand ambassador, and influencer. With his motto, “sharing my heART through this ART”, Orville is using his mother’s spirit as his strength and bringing people closer through his words. Discover all there is to know about Orville at orvillethepoet.com
