Here Comes The MIRTH QUAKE!
When a crazy idea breaks chains and runs wild.
I haven’t posted recently as I’ve been working on a project that, two weeks ago, didn’t exist.
A couple of weeks back I was sitting at home with a glass of wine watching something stupid on the television screen, thinking about the Japanese philosophy of Ikigai, quantum mechanics, and marketing creative works.
And yeah, this is a pretty normal behavior for me.
Brain gonna brain.
The Question In Question.
At any rate, I decided to throw a post on Xitter and Facebook, asking a pretty straightforward question:
Thinking, “Well, I’ll get a few responses and have the start of potential guests,” I went to bed.
Social media traction is hard to come by these days. It’s not the wild west of the social media internet anymore. Algorithms don’t favor the small guys, so as authors in particular, we struggle with getting our stuff in front of eyeballs.
What has happened as a result is a boatload of authors marketing their wares to other authors in the same exact space. We have become - sadly - competitors for attention. How many great works have gone unseen because the author of said work doesn’t have the capability, audience, or know-how to get themselves out there?
I have seen it over and over again. Authors desperate for attention believe the only way to get it is to incessantly talk about their own work, mark it down to 99 cents on Kindle, and beg fellow authors on the internet to buy it, getting largely ignored in the process because the algorithm quite literally hates you for doing it.
This is the modern-day marketing conundrum for creators - be they artist, musician, or writer.
A Quick Lesson In 800 Year-Old Japanese Philosophy
“Ikigai” is a Japanese philosophy of living a fulfilled life. It’s part philosophy, part workbook, part mental exercise and meditation. Basically, it goes like this:
List 5 things you love.
List 5 things you are good at.
List 5 things the world needs.
List 5 things you can get paid for (eventually).
Now, if I go through this exercise, I end up with five things I love that looks something like this:
Chocolate
Music
Writing
Helping People
My Kids
Five things I’m good at might go something like this:
Creativity (either in design, or thought)
Music (I used to DJ, play instruments, and have much music knowledge)
Storytelling (I can write, yo)
Helping People (Did that in my martial arts career)
Eating (Whatever)
Five things the world needs? I think of this as “Five things the writing community needs.”
Comedy (everything’s so f*cking serious all the time)
Marketing Help (because most of you don’t know how)
Reach (because we market to each other, instead of new people)
Direction (What do you do next?)
Community (Because more readers helps all of us!)
Lastly, five things I can be paid for:
Feet pics (But I have a sense of dignity, sooooo)
Coaching (Have been paid well for that in my career)
Storytelling (Obviously)
Tech Help (gross)
Marketing (I have a channel with nearly 20K subs, and self-pubbed a debut novel to great success, 5 stars on Amazon, and around 1K units sold. I’ve signed publishing contracts for new works, and even ended up nominated for an Imadjinn award!)
Now for Ikigai to work, you simply look at the through-lines of these (typically in Venn Diagram format). Where things converge is where you have purpose that allows you to live in a fulfilled way.
For me, this puts together a picture. Setting aside eating and feet pics (oh what a life that would be), it spells out Writing/Storytelling, Helping Others, and Marketing as major points.
It just so happens I’m part of a creative community (writers) that need help with community and marketing, and being that I love helping others, have had success as an author, and I’m good at creativity and marketing, well … helping other authors find their footing and success is something that I find very fulfilling.
But do authors realize they need the help?
The Next Morning.
I woke up, and saw this:
And that’s just on X. In all between DMs, Facebook and Xitter, I received around 250 messages from people overnight wanting in on my crazy idea.
I panicked, replied to everyone, and realized that there is something big here - a need that begs to be filled, and not in a half-assed way. Something organized. A project that can help me reach my peak Ikigai, helps my fellow creatives, forms community and does so in a unique way.
I put on the thinking cap, let my creativity run wild, and gave birth to something new and exciting!
Enter … The Mirth Quake Web Show!
A fun and free experience - part game show, part interview, all focused on creativity and the creative process (something that deeply fascinates yours truly). An opportunity for creatives trying desperately to find their footing to have an outlet where they are showcased, be they n00b or veteran, large or small, and a place where I can be creative and goofy while helping others.
As for the making money part? It’s the wrong move to start with. I am a firm believer that being in service to others provides opportunities for income, so while my expenses are out of pocket and a burden to start, they won’t stay that way if I devote my energy to helping other creatives succeed.
So I set to creating a press packet for the show, which serves as a starting point for anyone wanting to join in the fun. A Discord server became the show’s home, and I’m getting ready to launch 200+ messages out to people to lead them into the friendly confines of The MIRTH QUAKE Theater, where they can hang out, support one another, and be involved in this epic project.
Is all of this effort worth it?
For me, it already is. I’ve had a blast with this idea, I’m excited as can be to dig into the creative process with fellow artists, musicians and authors, and I’m looking forward to that broad appeal (creativity in common, but not exclusively authors) to garner a new and growing audience for all of the spotlighted guests on the show.
Mostly, I want to connect with others, encourage them to connect with each other, help everyone by diving into the creative process and elements they can apply to their own art, and have a blast doing so.
New Beginnings.
So as I enter this new chapter of my creative journey - wholly unexpected, mind you - I find a sense of panic, excitement, and peace. I’m doing something I love to do, and something that aligns with who I am.
If you happen to be reading this, and you’re thinking this sounds like a fascinating idea, I encourage you to head over to the MIRTH QUAKE page on my website, learn about the show, and follow the trail to a new community, built exclusively for people just like you.
See you behind the curtain! ;-)
-David