I needed this reminder. It’s been seven or so months since I worked on a novel, and restarting after so long is pants-wettingly terrifying. What if I’ve forgotten how to do it? What if it’s all crap? Why am I doing this anyway when I already have a full-time job and more items on my to-do list than I can handle?
Oh yeah. Right. Because making art is fun when you remember it’s just a thing you made and not a ruler by which to measure the worth of your soul.
Cool. Yeah. Right. I remember that bit. >.<
It’s somewhat ironic, really, that if you want to have a long and relatively happy life as an artist, you actually need to stop thinking of your art as Important. Valuable, sure, not least because it helps keep you sane and provides enjoyment and pleasure in your life. But the minute you start thinking of it as Important, the minute you lapse into that Tortured Artiste mentality, your art is actually screwed. At least in the long term.
One day, I will internalise this lesson enough that I don’t have to keep fighting for it every time I take a pause in writing, ah ha ha-ha ha-ha.
Go make something, guys. Make something trivial, something fun, something totally unimportant – because the act of making art like that has value.
Go do something utterly unimportant, and totally valuable. <3