Revising--With and Without an Editor (Ch. 10)

"But a writer is not an artist until he is unwilling to be published at all costs." --Philip Gerard, page 192 of Creative Nonfiction

Artists must not be willing to sacrifice their integrity or principles simply to be in the limelight or even to be paid. I'm willing to write journalistic stories I might not necessarily care that much about or even view as art, but I'll be damned if I ever let someone compromise my art. If I have an artistic vision for a piece, I'll take some criticism to heart and make it more accessible to the reader, etc., but I won't change it completely just so it will be printed in a journal or magazine. If you're willing to write whatever someone tells you all the time, and not what you feel you need to write, then you're a puppet, not an artist.