Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Erika Sauter Photo Credit: Me

Martha Gellhorn is known as one of the most valuable war reporters in history. Some might argue it was because she was a woman determined to make a name for herself during a time when women were known for their husband’s surname.

I like to believe it’s because she went off to the Spanish war in 1936 on her own accord and only after doing so was picked up by Collier’s Weekly as a reporter. She proved herself to be relentless. For almost six decades she was a published war and travel writer.

Nowadays building a name for ourselves has become a much easier task. With the internet and social media available to us in the palm of our hands 24/7 we have the freedom to share and show our work. We have the ability to self-publish stories at all hours throughout the night and the option to share our artwork with the entire world with a simple upload. We gain and maintain a following.

As for myself, I share a great deal of the my art processes on Tumblr. I haven’t many followers and receive little to no feedback but it doesn’t stop me. It’s there should anyone ever stumble upon it. I enjoy Tumblr for the same reasons I enjoy Medium. I’m able to share my work and at any hour on any given day. These platforms give me, the little guy a voice.

Of course this comes with failures and disappointments, but how else will we learn what works for us and what doesn’t? I’m certain Gellhorn crashed and burned over obstacles but she still prevailed.

I will crash and burn.

You will crash and burn.

We will prevail.

It’s possible however, in the era of the internet we’ve overlooked the obvious.

For one, the creative power of the human mind and hand. We now use graphic design programs and spell check apps. We use technology to create short cuts and get the job down in less time, but are we equally as creative as we would be if we used stone age contrivance such as manual production and thought process?

Another, just because we’re able to build a name for ourselves does not mean we’re able to earn a living wage. In most cases, and this is merely a guess from my own experience, creatives work for well below a working wage unless we sell out and create for corporations. Even to sell an article is an average of a $50 paycheck or pennies per word while the mega media companies profit from subscriptions.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The internet has provided more options for creatives than traditional hopeful and hopeless dreams.

There’s crowdfunding platforms, self publishing, marketing has never been easier than with social media. We can design webpages, upload portfolios and transform our ugliest selfies into works of art.

There’s an amazing and endless stream of what we have available to us at our fingertips in a network that never sleeps.

I’m not a technology genius. For real, I had to Google search what UX means and I still don’t know. Without YouTube I wouldn’t even know how to use Microsoft Paint (or is it Windows Paint)? People on Twitter are mean and I just don’t get what the gain is.

I write personal essays, stories and blog posts. I’m an artist who paints, sketches, does design and DIY. The internet is a tool I utilize in the process. Technology is a tool.

Some day the internet might die or poof, vanish from cyberspace but creativity will never end.

It’s a place to share work, a place to document my work and a place to earn and raise funds to keep working.

I’ve recently been working on a collection of *Duck Tape accessories. I’ve designed handbags, wallets, laptop satchels and lunchboxes out of something dated and durable. They’ll be uploaded for sale on my Amazon Handmade shop and it’s all done from my home.

They may or may not sell. I may or may not profit from my creative endeavors but I live in an era where I have the freedom to fail and-or succeed while the world watches it happen.

Entrepreneurship isn’t only startup companies. It’s also a component of art, photography, literature, music, creativity and inspiration. It’s everything we creatives do.

Hank Green considers himself an entrepreneur and creator. In 2015 when Patreon acquired Subbable Forbes magazine quoted him as saying, “We ascribe to the idealistic notion that audiences don’t pay for things because they’re forced to, but because they care about the stuff that they love and want it to continue to grow.”

Damn. I love you, Hank.

Let it grow.

Erika Sauter is a writer and artist. She currently lives in the deep freeze of Small Town, Iowa with her husband, two children and eight cats. She spends her free time suffering from an irrational reading addiction. You can support her work at www.patreon.com/erika_sauter and- or follow her creative endeavors on Medium.She feels awkward writing about herself in third person.

Recently published:

It’s Not Me, It’s Totally You

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In the Era of the Internet We’re Overlooking the Obvious was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In the Era of the Internet We’re Overlooking the Obvious

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