Be wary of thinking that you have to approach the creative endeavor with a factory-like doggedness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Do not trust artists who say that they pick up the pen or the brush at exactly 8:15 every morning and then lay it down eight hours later, when the imagined sharp-edged whistle blows, announcing the daily shift complete.

I hate the pressure that such untruths place upon the budding artist. The expectation that art can be so easily wrangled into domesticity, so as to produce inspired moments at regular intervals, is missing the purpose of art to begin with. The creative pursuit is all about engaging in play with the wildness of the unconscious. Yes, there is some wisdom in the axiom that the more often you show up to encounter those untouched parts of your mind, the more often you will be rewarded with inspiration. Discipline is important. But this perspective does not demand that you should clock in at a given hour every day. I wish it was that easy. The unconscious is a bit wilier than that.

The poet and writer Charles Bukowski said about creative inspiration that “unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to madness or suicide or murder, don’t do it.” Wait for a more auspicious time. There is wisdom in that approach.

I have the impression that there has been a pointed creep of the capitalist mindset into the crafting of the artistic. The creative process is of a higher order than aping the strictures of industry. We have to be vigilant about preserving the more chaotic and haphazard way in which art comes at us. Otherwise, we end up dashing all of our hopes for inspiration upon the rocks of the commercial enterprise.