fear of being misunderstood

perfectionism is wanting to be unharmable.

Conviction often stands in opposition to market trends. To have conviction before validation may make you seem weird or delusional, but it defines great artists—the ability to appreciate what others overlook or even fight against. To borrow YC parlance, they pursue “low-status things.” Maintaining this vision requires courage, especially when it

For authors like Joyce, Beckett, and Arno Schmidt, the model reader seems often to have been a conveniently unidentifiable version of themselves.

The best way to find your voice is to make a lot of work and then destroy it.

Anything precious is self-conscious, and that kills creativity.