About a month ago I attended a lecture by the world-famous architect, Dr. Siamak Hariri. A much shorter version of his speech is available here as a Ted Talk.
He spoke about the creative process, the moments of inspiration that seemed to come when least expected and when most needed. He said that all arts, all creative actions and products, follow a similar path and can be found in most professions, even those not normally thought of as artistic or creative.
One statement in particular resonated so deeply with me it has remained in the back of my mind ever since. “All artists feel like frauds.” Continue reading “Writers, Artists, Creators: Feeling Like a Fraud?”
Sometimes workshops do not go according to plan. Sometimes that’s a good thing.
It is an accepted truism that those of us with high artistic aptitudes often lack business aptitude and vice-versa. Many writers bemoan the necessity of and time spent on promotion. We want to write. Most of us do not enjoy the aspects of our craft that involve promotion, marketing and the non-creative side of our profession.
Recently Hal Niedzviecji, chief editor of Write Magazine, the quarterly published by the Writers Union of Canada, was pressured to resign as a result of his editorial, “Win Appropriation Prize”. His take was that there ought to be no barriers to writing about those we do not “know” and that readers would be the ones to take us to task if we cross the line.