Jun 28, 2023·edited Jun 28, 2023Liked by Michael Dean
I just reposted your last four spectacular paragraphs over to notes. I mean the whole thing is good, but it was like watching a fireworks display the way you light up the sky with multiple beautiful insights at the end. By the way, I agree about Twitter, now seeing the potential there, where there is much more room for the art of writing than I imagined.
I love this, especially the idea that you don't have to sacrifice your artistic integrity to make what matters to you, BUT the art your soul calls you to make and the art that you enjoy making and get paid for do not have to be the same.
I think straddling both worlds are necessary to survive if you want to be an artist and get paid doing what you love. You could always get paid random jobs so you can stay awake late at night, smoking cigarettes and drink cheap beer and write into the dawn, but that's not the time we live in. It's the time to embrace this duality. It's nothing new, as made clear by your piece, but it's the perfect time to be made aware of this duality. Growing up, I was always told to follow my dreams. When in reality, you should follow your dreams but get paid as well. A man's gotta eat. And then there's family as well..
I also struggle with the idea that both images should match. That's a lot of what my writing is about actually, the fact that I'm coming to terms with all sides of myself. So. I'm not sure. Is there the marketer persona that never meets the artistic persona? I don't know. Good questions though.
So great seeing where you took this piece Michael and bringing it home to your journey (and our's) as as a creator...love how you brought attention to Mucha's off-brand self, life, and methods! The tension is real and maybe that's productive. As always, you made me think about something new!
This was such a good piece. It mirrors a lot of my current tensions and musings over those tensions. You should submit this piece to Every. I feel like it is the perfect publication for an amazing essay like this.
Love it. A real question that doesn’t necessarily come with a clear cut answer, but rather a personal decision on how to conciliate artistic and commercial work.
I wonder if any commercial endeavor must necessarily come with some sort of public or visible disclaimer that it is commercial in nature...
I really love this, Michael. I think the tension for me has been in the authenticity trap.
That my real self is my writing self and the view that Twitter might require me to be a performative self and how long can I keep that up? It’s a scary thought.
But I also joined Small Bets this month and now I’m ready to get as clear as you are on Michael the marketer vs Michael the writer, so that I might figure out then develop the value add and lean all the way into it. And this will be the freedom that allows me to explore all these projects that exist in my head and in my journals. I’ve written and rewritten them for years and they matter, but they frankly might not ever translate into any recompense or recognition, just that I’ve exorcised them from my physical being and have the reward of now seeing them out in the world. And the ability to consistently do this will likely be commensurate with my level of self-satisfaction my own work/sense of purpose and meaning.
This is a heartening example. I love that you say not either or. Do both. Straddle. And cash in if you hit a lick--Art nouveau Pepsi and cigarettes so you can create the body of work you want/investigate your soul’s imaginings/follow serendipity in and on purpose.
I think a lot of writers can relate to this struggle. I appreciate the dichotomy you created here, and it makes a lot of sense. But still, I wonder how practicable it is.
One thing I'm thinking about is a video essay about Vin Diesel I watched the other day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw4155-zgDQ). Basically he was a really competent actor when he started out, and pursued a lot of artistic roles. But eventually he got pigeonholed into the "tough action star" persona. And he never recovered. It looks like Mucha was able to do both the art and the popularity, but how many fail?
Also, I wonder how your perspective on this has changed in the past 9 months. I've personally stopped writing on Twitter, and it seems like you have slowed down a lot too. What does marketing look like for you right now?
I also resonate a lot with this essay by Henrik Karlsson (https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/search-query), in which he argues that you should write as nichely and therefore passionately as possible. And then to try to find your 1,000 true fans that way. That seems more sustainable to me (not necessarily from a financial perspective, but from a production perspective, dealing with writer's block and such).
I just reposted your last four spectacular paragraphs over to notes. I mean the whole thing is good, but it was like watching a fireworks display the way you light up the sky with multiple beautiful insights at the end. By the way, I agree about Twitter, now seeing the potential there, where there is much more room for the art of writing than I imagined.
I love this, especially the idea that you don't have to sacrifice your artistic integrity to make what matters to you, BUT the art your soul calls you to make and the art that you enjoy making and get paid for do not have to be the same.
This is so damn good, Michael.
I think straddling both worlds are necessary to survive if you want to be an artist and get paid doing what you love. You could always get paid random jobs so you can stay awake late at night, smoking cigarettes and drink cheap beer and write into the dawn, but that's not the time we live in. It's the time to embrace this duality. It's nothing new, as made clear by your piece, but it's the perfect time to be made aware of this duality. Growing up, I was always told to follow my dreams. When in reality, you should follow your dreams but get paid as well. A man's gotta eat. And then there's family as well..
I also struggle with the idea that both images should match. That's a lot of what my writing is about actually, the fact that I'm coming to terms with all sides of myself. So. I'm not sure. Is there the marketer persona that never meets the artistic persona? I don't know. Good questions though.
So great seeing where you took this piece Michael and bringing it home to your journey (and our's) as as a creator...love how you brought attention to Mucha's off-brand self, life, and methods! The tension is real and maybe that's productive. As always, you made me think about something new!
This was such a good piece. It mirrors a lot of my current tensions and musings over those tensions. You should submit this piece to Every. I feel like it is the perfect publication for an amazing essay like this.
Love it. A real question that doesn’t necessarily come with a clear cut answer, but rather a personal decision on how to conciliate artistic and commercial work.
I wonder if any commercial endeavor must necessarily come with some sort of public or visible disclaimer that it is commercial in nature...
I really love this, Michael. I think the tension for me has been in the authenticity trap.
That my real self is my writing self and the view that Twitter might require me to be a performative self and how long can I keep that up? It’s a scary thought.
But I also joined Small Bets this month and now I’m ready to get as clear as you are on Michael the marketer vs Michael the writer, so that I might figure out then develop the value add and lean all the way into it. And this will be the freedom that allows me to explore all these projects that exist in my head and in my journals. I’ve written and rewritten them for years and they matter, but they frankly might not ever translate into any recompense or recognition, just that I’ve exorcised them from my physical being and have the reward of now seeing them out in the world. And the ability to consistently do this will likely be commensurate with my level of self-satisfaction my own work/sense of purpose and meaning.
This is a heartening example. I love that you say not either or. Do both. Straddle. And cash in if you hit a lick--Art nouveau Pepsi and cigarettes so you can create the body of work you want/investigate your soul’s imaginings/follow serendipity in and on purpose.
Thank you for sharing.
This was amazing. Making the case in way that's old yet new.
I think a lot of writers can relate to this struggle. I appreciate the dichotomy you created here, and it makes a lot of sense. But still, I wonder how practicable it is.
One thing I'm thinking about is a video essay about Vin Diesel I watched the other day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw4155-zgDQ). Basically he was a really competent actor when he started out, and pursued a lot of artistic roles. But eventually he got pigeonholed into the "tough action star" persona. And he never recovered. It looks like Mucha was able to do both the art and the popularity, but how many fail?
Also, I wonder how your perspective on this has changed in the past 9 months. I've personally stopped writing on Twitter, and it seems like you have slowed down a lot too. What does marketing look like for you right now?
I also resonate a lot with this essay by Henrik Karlsson (https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/search-query), in which he argues that you should write as nichely and therefore passionately as possible. And then to try to find your 1,000 true fans that way. That seems more sustainable to me (not necessarily from a financial perspective, but from a production perspective, dealing with writer's block and such).
I don't know the answer.
What do you think?