Consistency: King or court jester?

We all know consistency is the way to achieve almost anything—from learning the trumpet, to perfecting a cartwheel, or to finishing the full seven seasons of your new favourite show—it all takes consistent, intentional effort. Creative work is no different and there’s no arguing the many rewards and benefits to remaining consistent.

However, for some of us, consistency is a real jerk.

For years now, creatives all over have been thrown into a kingdom governed by this harsh ruler with banners hanging from the halls declaring: “Consistency is King!” and a hushed, whispered knowledge that if you can’t keep up with the laws of this land then, matey, you’re out.

The messaging was clear, ‘consistency’ meant we had to create and publish every week, if not every day, or even multiple times a day, across several platforms. Or at the very least, we’re told to choose a schedule and stick to it! Even if your left arm got stabbed at the last jousting tournament, you better stay on the plan.

You might be in a season of life that allows you to move about the Kingdom of Consistency with ease. If the only thing stopping you is self sabotage or disorganisation then having a target to meet might be the motivation you need. Go forth and conquer. This isn’t for you.

To the rest of us, Consistency is not a King we can recognise or serve, it’s a court jester and we actually just want to slap him in the face so his little jingly hat will stop making noise. He flaunts his tricks and twirls about, holding the buttons just way, way too high and so we step aside. The shiny people in the kingdom call back at us: “You’re not pro, you don’t want it enough, you need to get your creative act together as well as find matching socks to wear in the morning.”

It’s all just too much.

Not because we’re lazy or we don’t want to be a good citizen of Consistency Kingdom. Most of us would probably long for such an opportunity and maybe we even create spreadsheets and plans and daydream about what it might be like to create from the Rule of Regular Schedule. But, alas, we battle against foes like chronic pain, illness, anxiety or all of the above and even more. Sometimes we’re actually typing with one hand as we fight off a beast with the other.

Case in point: I had a creative plan for May and I was so energised for it. I had a whole bunch of projects beautifully curated and plotted out. I mean, there were post-it notes involved and everything. I then spent almost the entire month in pain and in bed. Things got so bad at one point I even resorted to Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. I ended up just doing one project that month - a post on Substack and what an achievement that I even got that one in. (It was a little poem on hope. I may or may not have been talking to myself.)

If you know what I’m talking about some or all of the below may also apply:

• Right now, your “Lifestyle Inspiration” is less about reviewing gorgeous places to visit and more about evaluating the effectiveness of different brands of dry shampoo.

• “Exciting Updates” are largely based around the way your bedridden-ness gives you the perfect viewpoint to watch the light make patterns on your wall throughout the day or the various sleeping positions of your dog.

• Your relationship with your nervous system is complicated. You might have to wrestle that thing to the ground before you can hit publish on anything and regularly talk it away from burning the whole thing down.

Yet, you’re still here. You still want to create and share, because that’s who you really are and you know you’ve got something to say that we want to hear. That’s one of the reasons this is so hard. If we didn’t want to do this work and be among the hum and clamour of the kingdom it wouldn’t hurt so much. But we do and it does. Instead, we feel isolated and like we’re falling behind while all of this goodness we have in Shiny Idea Folders is slowly losing its chance to glitter.

Maybe there is some truth to that. To be honest, we can’t keep up with the churn of consistent content that others can, so we do have to choose our projects wisely. However, with every single fibre of my being I believe that our work can be powerful and memorable even if it’s less frequent. Reframing the whole consistency thing, for me at least, has been crucial. If Consistency is King and we can’t bow down to it, we’ll disqualify ourselves. So it’s time we leave that ridiculous realm and find a new way forward.

I’ve come up with a couple of thoughts that helps de-throne consistency in my own work which I’ll share below. Also it doesn’t have to be Substack related work either - could be any kind of creative pursuit or whatever you’re chasing right now.

I didn’t include this bit in the audio but I just want to say again so it’s super clear—having a consistent creative schedule is amazing. Whether that’s a writing practice or a skill, a sport or something else. Setting up a regular goal to motivate you is an incredible way to pull you forwards. I also know that life, for everyone, is full of ‘busy’ and fitting in creativity isn’t easy, even if you don’t have a chronic issue like pain or sickness. But I’m especially thinking here of people who are in an extreme situation of some kind who find consistency offers them a big fat shadow that freezes their work, rather than a North Star that lights the way. 

De-throning consistency

People don’t actually notice as much as we think they do

I mean, we love you, we think you’re great and all but also we don’t care. We’re not watching, waiting to throw tomatoes at you. We’re far too obsessed and busy with ourselves, thank you very much. If we do notice, it’s more than likely we’re a super fan and super fans don’t get mad, we get excited. When you do post, you better believe we’ll be there ready to digitally wave our hands in the air like we just don’t care.

The slower lane can help create great work

We’re not chasing forced consistency (even if we want to), so we have an opportunity to zone in on that one piece of work - thinking about it on our sick days, daydreaming about it as we search for the other sock, mentally turning our work over, looking at it from its many different sides before we share it. Without the internal pressure to meet a schedule or an arbitrary number we’ve set for ourselves means we might create less but be creating more work we’re truly proud of.

It’s not consistency we need, but compassion

We don’t need an ungracious King or a jester. We need a buddy. One that could sit next to us and say “hey, it doesn’t matter if it’s been ages since you last created. We love your work. We need your voice. I really think you’ve got it in you.” Please don’t let consistency lie to you and convince you that just because you haven’t shared your work since [insert your own time-frame here] that you can’t start now. You can. Tell him to take his merry jig elsewhere and post off-schedule, off-topic, whatever you need to do.

I know it’s not as dazzling as being part of the kingdom of always-on-time but can I interest you in joining me in my sub-kingdom*: Doing the Bluddy Best I Can, with our first point of business being to come up with a better name.

*Odd socks allowed.

x K x

PS: Audio listeners: I’m trying not to be a perfectionistic sabotage-y creator and so I’ve published with this audio track but there are some interesting SFX such as a nearby siren or two and the neighbourhood cockatoos that really have it in for me.

PPS: Updated to add this incredible sticker by

Emily Charlotte Powell

who created this just for you. Isn’t it gorgeous? Thank you Emily for sharing your work so generously with us. Read more from Emily here: While I Was Drawing.

Click the sticker to download your copy.