In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, Joe Vastano has a lovely essay on how writers have to acknowledge the duality inside them in order to achieve artistic triumph. I couldn’t agree more. Here’s a brief snippet:
Creative people are walking paradoxes; both shrewd and naïve, libidinous yet prudish, and so on. I believe that this paradox forms the basis of the creative tension so essential to artistic triumph—the friction of opposites setting fire to that “third thing,” which goes by yet another name: the Sublime.
Go read the entire essay, “Into the Sublime,” and see what other gems await in Glimmer Train’s latest bulletin.
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
I love this! Just what I needed for my morning of writing. I love this way of describing creativity and the sublime. Jane, you sure know how to pick’em.
thank you, Shirley. I always recommend that creative folks I know read Carl Jung’s essay, “The Transcendent Function” for a supremely detailed and amazing explanation of the phenomenon. Blessings to you, and write hard!
Joe Vastano
Thank you for this. I agree wholeheartedly, only because I find myself battling both sides, trying to come to some sort of compromise. Compromise in this context, in my mind, equates to adequate or vanilla or even worse, average. I’ve printed his article and am pinning it to my board. It bears frequent reads, until I “get” it.
thank you, Cindy. I always recommend that creative folks I know read Carl Jung’s essay, “The Transcendent Function” for a supremely detailed and amazing explanation of the phenomenon. Blessings to you, and write hard!
Joe Vastano
For more info on the paradoxical creative personality, I highly recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=creativity+flow+and+the+psychology+of+discovery+and+invention&sprefix=creativity%2Cstripbooks%2C180
Blessings and good fortune to all!
Joe Vastano
Fascinating!