Why Creatives Create

When I was in the Military I was once tasked with getting hold of a mini Rhino statue, standing on skis, placed on a wooden mount with a personalised engraving. It was 9 am and they needed it by noon ! There was even a joke (not joke) about needing to get the morning’s work done too.

It wasn’t just random, there was a genuine need but my boss enjoyed testing my resourcefulness. We were off to Afghanistan and everyone was getting scrubbed.

Now I’m a Freelance creative I look back on it and smile, lots of fun (sorry taxpayer).

Anyway I passed the test that day.

People sometimes ask how the Military prepared me for life as a voice Artist.

Well not everything was as arduous as this and I do worry sometimes that with all these war stories, people might not take my performance work seriously.

Here’s a blog to get the New Year off to a start. I’m focussing on what motivates creatives to do what they do. If you’re new to my work, I’m a British Voiceover Artist, trusted by clients around the World to deliver Audiobooks, Audioguides, Game Character Work, Educational content  and commercial styles. I have a professional studio In Hampshire UK and as you may have guessed, I used to have a Military career.

Making A Creative Life Count

I remember the untuned tv as a kid with all that white noise and the millions of tiny black & white dots flashing before my eyes. In the big scheme of things, each of those dots could represent a single Human life across time.

Might as well make it count.

I have this idea that as creatives, we have a need to feel statistically significant. The need to leave a mark on the World and the best way to do that is to make something that outlives you.

Of all the jobs I’ve ever done, the well paid ones where I was ‘very Important’ were often the ones that left me feeling least fulfilled. I didn’t make anything.

I remember an old man being quizzed by a young boy why he was an artist when it pays so badly.

His answer:

‘For some people it’s not a choice’.

I’d to leave a mark, even just a trace of my existence. It’s selfish of course and the only real legacy I need is my children, but creativity is what gets me out of my silk pyjamas.

For the record, I don’t wear pyjamas.

Voice Over Awards

Maybe another reason is recognition of your expertise or talent. I don’t mean the kind of expertise you find with a locksmith, where they they turn up looking smug saying:

‘So you’ve locked yourself out have you’ ?

I mean acknowledgement from your peers and those whose judgement you respect and value. Monetary wealth is nice and is bloody useful, but for many it comes in second to applause.

The Voiceover Industry has very credible awards and being able to credit yourself as ‘Award Winning’ can make a difference from a marketing point of view.

The only thing that doesn’t chime with me is the self nomination process. It’s just the way it has to be though as we don’t work in a closed entertainment bubble (like Hollywood). Clients are so disparate, I’m not sure where you’d begin with collating nominations.

I’m absolutely not taking anything away from these awards, but I’ve tended to not bother submitting. Ultimately this ‘meh’ ! attitude doesn’t serve me well so this could be the year I start swinging from the chandeliers and shouting how great I am.

I did once enter the Southern Enterprise Awards and win ‘Best Voice Artist In Hampshire’, in 2024.

As I was the only Voice Artist in Hampshire that applied, maybe the title should be:

‘A Voice Artist In Hampshire’

Voiceover Scams In 2026

Creative Freelancers get targeted by scammers a lot. Maybe the constant doom and gloom about our industries leads some to think we’re all desperate and a bit of a soft touch.

Some of us do what we do because we have to, but we also do it to put food on the table. There are scumbags everywhere trying to steal your money, steal your work and ultimately spoil your year.

I’m a Voice Artist and have a finely tuned spidey sense when it comes to red flags with bogus projects and over-payment schemes.

I focussed too much on that towards the end of the year though and got burned by one of these lowest forms of life.

This is embarrassing and I admit being a doddering fool. I work with international clients and get regular calls from my bank and phone provider to check activity so it wasn’t unusual to get a call from EE (or so I thought).

Anyway, after granting this deadbeat access to my phone profile, he made merry with my Amazon account for 20 minutes before I was able to shut my World down.

He caught me in a hurry, sounded authentic and got lucky. We have to be diligent all the time, they only need to be lucky once.

Stay on top of your game in 2026, they’re everywhere.

Game Voiceover in 2026

This year it’s Game Voices that are getting me out of bed and into the studio.

Last year I was proud to land a character role for NIOH 3, (due out Feb 6th) and I’m happy to be getting traction with Game Character work.

I’m adding guttural samurai to my portfolio after that, along with reflective middle aged warrior after my work with RAID Shadow Legends.

Other notable game projects in 2025 include being the annoying and sarcastic robot in KENTUM. I also worked with Bionic Ape narrating a……..annoying and sarcastic robot in Denbora.

Annoying and sarcastic are not traits I’ll be adding to my resume, but if it pays the bills then hey !

Character work is awesome, I love it and sometimes it leaves me rolling around in hysterics. These are simple pleasures and now I’m in my 50s I get them when I can, so it’s an area of focus for me in 2026.

British Male Voiceover

I’m James Fowler, an experienced British Voice Artist with a passion for character work, audiobooks, audioguides and game audio. I’ve shouted instructions on the sinking Titanic, guided tourists around museums, sold everything from luxury apartments to Romanian Apple Pie and pride myself on adding value for clients.

If you have a project that needs quality audio and an efficient, painless process, lets talk about how we can move things forward for you.