So, what I was trying to say in that last post is that, t...

So, what I was trying to say in that last post is that, to truly be an artist worth anyone giving a shit about, I think a couple things: 1) you shouldn't give a shit about people giving a shit about you. This sounds at the same time both obvious and ridiculous. On the ridiculous: why make art if no one gives a shit about it? On the obvious: how can you make serious art if you give a fuck about what anyone else thinks? You have to believe in your own vision, right? But I think that that tension is what makes someone capable of being a good artist: you can't ignore an audience no matter how hard you try; if you're worth anything as an artist, you're aware of the artists working in your medium, so you know the market, and you know what other people are making. Otherwise whatever you might make might be useless or, worse, redundant. 2) You should be the person you are at whatever time that is. If you're anything like me you change pretty regularly. Sometimes you like iambic pentameter and sometimes you like prose fiction in the third person omniscient. You don't know what the hell you're doing most the time. But discipline is important if you ever plan to get anything done. To that end I've immersed myself in projects, many of them at any one given time, so that if I ever get bored, or decide my mood puts me somewhere else, I can switch there and I've always got something to work on. 3) Don't censor yourself. This is different than revision, in other words. What I mean is that who you are and what you've been doing your whole life is good stuff, provided you can describe it as such. Anyone can do so, but there's a mastery of storytelling that comes into it, and that I think you can only gain from reading a lot, or from listening to many storytellers. What you don't want to do is put up some kind idealized version of yourself in your writing. save that for fiction, if that's your thing. But in nonfiction, it's probably best if you just tell the truth, and it's especially good if you're able to see your shortcomings and exploit those for storytelling purposes. I mean, who wants to hear a story about someone who's really great and thinks that way about himself and is reinforcing that upon you? The only times where that strategy works is when it's unintentionally tragic, as in David Carradine's unintentionally amazing book. In general, intention, I would say, is a guideline. certainly, happy little accidents occur. But be honest with yourself. Anyway, that's what I feel like I'm trying to do. I'm a go into more detail in a minute.