Are You an Artist or an Author?
Lately, there has been a gaggle of articles on Medium about the notion of the starving artist. Many have tried to define what it takes for an artist to reach ‘success’ or to be cursed as a ‘starving’ artist. Then I came across this blog by Cyle Young who’s a literary agent. He says writers need to know which bucket they fall into as an author. The question he poses is:
Are you an artist or an author?
I happen to be both. So this little list he made could essentially be — in one form or another — the daily argument in my head between the left and right sides of my brain.
Here’s the breakdown:
An Artist is a person who…
-Crafts a masterpiece.
-Is a writer of an elegant masterpiece or two.
-Struggles to let go of control of a project (book cover, edits, title, etc.)
-Spends months, or years, writing the perfect book.
-Edits and rewrites multiple times.
-Spends countless hours learning “the craft”
-Takes years to publish a book.
-Aims for perfection.
-Desires positive reviews.
-Will gain recognition for quality and win awards.
-May never make any money.
-Wants to see their name on the cover.
An Author is a person who…-Sells books.
-Is a writer of many works.
-Does not care about control of a project.
-Spends days, or weeks, writing a product that sells.
-Edits once, maybe twice.
-Spends countless hours crafting “the sell.”
-Takes weeks to publish a book.
-Not concerned with perfection.
-Desires reviews that lead to sales or boost marketability.
-May never gain recognition or win awards.
-Will sell books and make money.
-Is willing to ghost write, with no recognition.
My conclusion: Perfection and ego are the creative’s nemesis. And if you are making a living from your art, and your goals are to be prolific then you’ve got to find a balance between all of the above. With an emphasis and priority on the latter. Shoot for finished rather than perfect. And always be learning.
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