Try as I may, playing piano fast isn’t easy for me. The slow and dramatic pace is my jam. It works for me. I can do slow and dramatic. I’m comfortable with slow and dramatic.

My point?

We all have our strengths at our respective arts—writing, music, visual art, whatever.

We’ve all got things we’re good at.

We’ve all got things we can work at.

So here’s 5 ways to use creative strengths and harness them for better impact on your target audience.

(1.) Determine your strengths. What are you? Funny? Cute? Dramatic? Serious?
Showcase your creative strengths. Let your target audience see that. Chances are, your strengths are probably a comfortable place for you to go. Your audience will see that you know what the heck you’re doing, you know what the heck you’re talking about and will appreciate your work and love you for it.

(2.) Improve on weaknesses. We’ve all got things we can improve on. Stuff like dialogue, character development and dramatic backstories are easy for me to come up with. Plotting every little detail is more of a challenge for me. Don’t beat yourself up about something you’re not good at.

One solution? Look to people with experience. Learning from experts can help you progress. Find books discussing formulas on dialogue if that isn’t your strength, character development if your characters need more work, or plot and structure if you need to.

(3.) Look at what others in your chosen genre have done. Who has done it really well? Maybe they’ve had commercial success. Maybe not as much commercial success, but they’re great writers.

(4.) Make your plan. Plan your stuff. Saves you time in the long run.

(5.) Put it all together.

Creativity is a reflection of everything you’ve ever listened to, seen or read.

Commit to lifelong creative learning if you want to grow as a creative.

It takes time. Day in and day out devotion to your craft.

When you use your strengths, build on your weaknesses, learn from others’ work and plan your material, it gives you a solid foundation for creating your work.

Show ‘em how you’re strong and you won’t go wrong.