You're starting a new, large project that you think people might be interested in. Do you let people in on the ground floor, or wait until you've got some content to show them before you reveal the project?
@noelle i think ideally you should never talk about it
as a creator, both (a) the time spent talking about the thing and (b) the positive feedback you receive about the thing sap your strength to actually finish the thing (both in terms of cost of engagement and because you inevitably start to derive fulfilment from “talking about the thing” instead of “doing the thing”, which is not a position which lends itself well to the thing getting done)
the ideal situation for someone making a thing is for OTHER PEOPLE to share it and talk about it without you having to say a word, so you can focus on your job, which is actually making the dang thing. in my opinion they will do that if:
- they can make cool things with your thing
- your thing enables them to better connect with others
- your thing enables them to complete important tasks
- your thing is impressive to them in some way
- your thing makes them feel emotions
- they are a fan of you or your previous work
unfortunately all of these cases except the last one require already having made a thing
@noelle although the most severe concerns of https://youtu.be/hqwP6uuYOWo aren't applicable to non-fan creators, i agree generally with the take that the list of reasons to talk about a thing prematurely look something like
1. you need help finishing the thing
2. there is no reason 2
(actually there are some other reasons, like you want to teach people HOW you are doing the thing so they can follow in your footsteps, you want to give friends insight into your life, etc, but these are all decidedly non-promotional)