Literature

Most writers agree that you can’t write a book that everyone loves. Or at least, you can’t write a great book—one that truly captures the imagination and stays on shelves—that everyone loves. In fact, most great books are polarizing: people either love or hate them. Or they don’t care at all, which is almost the same as hating.

The reason for this is, great writers know who they’re trying to connect with, and write to that audience exclusively. They aren’t hung up on making every single person agree with their theories, and they draw strong moral lines around what they’re willing to compromise in order to get published.

These tough choices make art.

[Note: I learned this all last night, at Stephen Elliot’s memoir writing workshop at 826 Seattle.]

Business

It strikes me that the same is true of business.

One thing that’s really punched me in the face since I started doing my own thing is that if I want to succeed, I’m going to have to pony up and act real tough-like. Otherwise, I’ll wind up saying yes to every person who trots through my contact form, alter my prices, or worse—turn into a skeezy, watered-down, tip-spraying web writer whose work is technically accurate, but super boring. Eww.

Maybe orienting my business (even my life?!) around connecting with who I want to connect with, rather than taking the defense-as-offense route, is the right idea.

Evidence points to I am right. Aren’t most great businesses, thinkers, artists, and pioneers kind of eye-popping and dissonant at first?

So I’ll say it: in business as in literature, only art survives.