Yesterday morning during my (short) commute, I was listening to Dear Sugar, which is one of my favorite podcasts.
In the 13th episode, the subject was about money.
One of the letters was about how a young woman felt bad that she was rich and wondered if it was her wealth privilege that gave her access to being able to be an artist.
It’s true that making art — especially writing — requires a lot of time, which many people don’t have because of family responsibilities, jobs, or bills.
Growing up working-class, it wasn’t even an option for me to even think about writing until I was on my feet financially and well into a career that could support me.
On the podcast, the hosts talk about the importance of having a patron. It got me thinking: Does being an artist require you to have a patron?
When I think of patron, I think of a rich person who sponsors you or getting an endowment or residency from an arts program. But maybe for people who don’t have access to such things, it could be as simple as a supportive critique partner or a writing mentor maybe even getting a scholarship to a MFA program. Cultivating an artist takes time, which in most cases also involves money.
It can be done of course. Anything worth having isn’t easy. It may take longer and require lots of discipline and focus to get where you want to be.
But I always think about the obstacles. I often wonder how many talented novelists we’ve lost due to them not having access to time and money.