Would You Take a Bullet For Your Art?

Photo from Wired.com

Welcome to Thoughty Thursday! This is the day of the week that y’all get to be privy to whatever thoughts are kicking around in my brain.

This week, I’m thinking about the sacrifices people make for their art.

Sleep, sex, food, time. You name it, and some creative type is likely giving it up for the sake of their art.

Y’all might call me crazy on this one, but I have to draw the line at committing a crime. (I know!!  Can you believe I’m letting my morals get in the way of my art??) I think there’s a logical limit to artistic sacrifice, or there should be.

This last Monday, my honey sent me the following link: ‘Kindness’ author shot himself to promote book.

Say WHAT??! Are you kidding me?

Sadly I’m not. According to the police, memoir author, Raymond Dolan, who is writing about the “Kindness of America,” not only shot himself in the arm, he implicated an innocent man in the shooting.

I’ve heard plenty about “the rigors of book promotion” but COME ON. Really??

This is right up there with lying to Oprah on national television or plagiarizing Nora Roberts. Why would you do it? Not only is it pretty much guaranteed that the world will find out about it, it’s wrong and it’s tacky.

As a fellow memoir writer, I’m particularly offended. What is the point of calling it a memoir if you’re going to lie?

As many of you know, I’ve been participating in a rewarding process called Fast Draft since June 7th. Fourteen writers have banded together to write as much as they can over the course of two weeks (although I’m continuing at least through the weekend).

The goal is 20 pages, but for this practice round, we’ve all been fighting to just get as much on the page as we can. Illness, work schedules, family and a myriad of other things (called LIFE) have gotten in our way, and still we press on. We sit our a$$es in our chairs, even when we don’t feel like it because “zero pages is NOT an option.” We’ve got 13 other people pulling for our success.

You’ll notice I didn’t say the Fast Draft process has been easy. Art and creativity are rarely easy.

I said rewarding because I’ve been watching the beauty of my fellow writers holding out a hand, even when they’re limping through their own journey, to help others. THAT’S what I call ‘kindness.’

OK, I’m opening the floor to y’all because I’m dying ot know what you think.

Did YOU see this story? What did you think of it? What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your art? In retrospect, was it worth it? Enquiring minds LOVE to know these things here at More Cowbell!

Jenny