A Great Perspective on the Artistic Life

There's an excellent post over at The Millions about Michael Bourne's experience at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He gave me a lot to think about regarding writing, workshops, agents, and publishing.  I found this courtesy of the New England Review's newsletter.

Here's a snippet:

Let’s say that you hold some passionate, but obscure belief. Maybe you believe God will fling a meteor at the earth and all the good people will be sucked up into heaven. Maybe you favor a return to the gold standard. Or perhaps you think Roseanne Barr should be elected president this fall on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. Whatever it is, this belief animates your life, gives your daily existence shape and meaning, but no one you know really understands why you care so much about it. Then one day you drive to a mountaintop in the Vermont woods and spend 10 days in splendid isolation with several hundred other people who fervently believe the same things you do.

Read the rest of Keeping the Faith: Ten Days at Bread Loaf