Embrace the odd.

One thing that really annoys me is how the tv/film industry expects creative people to be great salesman.
There's this demand nowadays that if you're creative that's not enough. You have to be able to push your projects and sell yourself.

Can you pitch?
Can you network?

Anyone who has ever worked with a writer or designer or composer etc, knows that it takes a certain kind of personality to be artistic or to have the kind of unique outlook on life that produces something unique or special.

It's simply not in most creatives personality to stand in a room with a big grin and sell their work.
To be honest, the types of people who can sell themselves tend to be mediocre. And perversely they often get the breaks because of their more garrulous nature.

The deal is, once you are famous or profitable then you get to be as weird and difficult as you want. Then, producers and the like will simply smile and shake their heads and say "oh... She/he is sooooo quirky".

I've tried to network and sell myself, but the truth is due to a case of agoraphobia I need a skinful of booze to be able to face a room full of strangers.

It's really really important for creative people to understand that it's ok not to be Mr/Mrs smooth-talker. You don't have to write oh-so-witty tweets or agonise over how many people read your blog.
If the thought of standing in front of an audience brings you out in hives, I'm right there with you.

I believe that its ok to be shy.
It's ok if people think you're a bit odd or you're not great at social stuff.
That's why you're different and that's why you can create things and others can't.