The Dangers of Praise by Dan Holloway
The most important piece of advice you could give anyone in the creative arts is “always stay true to your artistic vision.” That’s all very well, but it’s not, practically, very helpful. In large part, this is because it can frame the problem you face in the wrong way. It is easy to think of the journey of authenticity (I promise that’s the last time I’ll use that word) as one of seeing the obstacles placed in your way and finding the fortitude to surmount them. (Songs from the Other Side of the Wall, a book of which I am immensely proud - and which you can buy here - which lots of people praised for its beautiful writing but whose most important feature was its pulling together of fragmented narratives) But that ignores what I have found to be the most tricksy obstacle of all – the positives you encounter along the way. And it’s not just the case in the arts, it’s the same in every walk of life, and by and large it boils down to a simple fact of psychology – passive ...