there's nothing wrong with being single minded about pursuing your goals.

See, this? Is WAY different than saying "Fuck Plan B."

Go ahead and argue that both of those statements are totally identical in tenor and intent. I'll wait.

Look, she's not saying or doing anything different than the vast majority of writers, musicians or artists that ever succeeded.

Bruce Springsteen did not have a Plan B. He has never worked at anything except being a musician since he was 16.

The Beatles did not have a Plan B. George Harrison was 15 when he went to Hamburg and dropped speed every night and played eight hour sets. There was no Plan B.

What if you have kids? What if you have an aging parent?

I don't think that's germane. That's a different situation than having a fallback plan if your artistic career doesn't work. That's choosing something else over your artistic career.

See, this? Is WAY different than saying "Fuck Plan B."

I'm not sure what "single minded" means to you, except "Fuck Plan B."

To me it means resolute, unwavering, not deviating from your goal. Plan B means: "I have an out. I can quit any time and go back to being a dental hygienist."

In a way, they are, but he's having a conversation, and Palmer is trying to get attention. "Fuck Plan B" is much more exciting than "it's okay to put your art first, sometimes." (of course, in a way, I'm not the woman who needs to have that conversation...I'm poor enough, and impaired enough, that I went to school so I might have a Plan B, but Plan B told me to fuck off first...I didn't realize I was rock-and-roll. My choices are, like, be an artist, or drool into a cup.

I'm not sure what "single minded" means to you, except "Fuck Plan B."

I didn't just quote "single-minded." I quoted the whole sentence, which was "there's nothing wrong with being single minded about pursuing your goals."

That's saying, go ahead and try that, that's a good thing to do.

"Fuck Plan B" is dismissive and contemptuous of the idea of a Plan B.

Do you seriously not see the difference in those statements?

Toni Morrison edited other people's writing, and wrote hers on the train home. That certainly didn't make her less of an artist. You hear about "No Plan B" the most when it works, although I think Ringo had a thought about opening a hair salon, at one point.

I have seen, over and over, myself included, the lower middle class artists choose the plan B without even trying Plan A, because the thought of being without security is terrifying

It's probably a big part of the reason why I stopped doing theatre.

Bruce Springsteen did not have a Plan B. He has never worked at anything except being a musician since he was 16.

Hmm. This reminds me of the study I heard of recently. A former minor-league ball player quit baseball and went to grad school in sociology, and then did a long-term economic analysis of baseball players. He looked at people who stayed with it, and people who didn't, and the long-term earnings of both categories.

What he discovered is that the people who quit playing professionally made more money over their lifetimes than the ones who stuck with it. The small percentage of those who went on to highly-successful careers in the majors were far outnumbered by those who struggled for years being paid very little--and losing out on other work and educational opportunities.

The fact that Bruce Springsteen didn't have a Plan B doesn't mean that everyone gets to be Bruce Springsteen. It means that IF you're as persistent, talented, creative, business-like, and lucky as Bruce Springsteen, MAYBE not having a Plan B will pay off for you financially.

But as an entirely casual hobbyist in the arts, I gotta say that trying to make a living by my creative writing would put so much pressure on me that it would dry up my creative drive entirely. Anyway, there should be room in this conversation for people who aren't in the arts as a career: Dentistry school or Bruce Springsteen aren't the only two options.

There's not a band in the world (except for the trust fund baby Strokes) that didn't eat ramen and couch surf and scrape to make things happen.

So if someone came up with a non-Strokes musical exception you'd concede the point? This seems really fragile.

Can actors have plan Bs and still succeed? Is it only music which rewards desperation and lack of contingency planning ability?

Can actors have plan Bs and still succeed?

What about artists? Is this when I get to bring up Chatty and how he's landed the dream job inking for Marvel yet still works at a day job because he wants his wife and son to have health insurance?

Damn sell-out.

That's choosing something else over your artistic career.

No, it's not. That's my point -- you can do both. My first novel was published while I was working full-time, and I had kids and a home to take care of.