A few weeks ago, I stumbled over an interesting article about art and artists, How to Be an Artist, by Jerry Saltz, the New York Magazine art critic. The whole article lists thirty-three points and is worth reading in full. I have inserted below a few points that resonated with me. Especially the last one. LOL.

• Tell your own story, and you will be interesting.
• Your skill will be whatever it is you’re doing differently.
• Writers need editors.* No exceptions.
• Life is your syllabus: gather from everywhere.
• The best definition of success is time – the time to do your work.
• Be delusional: I have one solution to turn away these demons: After beating yourself up for half an hour or so, stop and say out loud, ”Yeah, but I’m a fucking genius.”

* My comment: definitely; it’s sufficient to compare Andy Weir’s The Martian (self-published) to Artemis (published by  Ballantine Books). QED. I love Science-Fiction, and I did read the whole Martian. But I wished all the time for an editor. I almost grabbed a pen and started editing it myself.

If you liked this post, share it on your preferred social network or forward it to a friend.