I also think this is getting sticky about class issues, because there are plenty of people for whom paying the rent is just barely achievable, and they shouldn't be looked down upon because they aren't doing it to fund their Great Art.

This. This is one of my big, BIG issues with it.

HUGE issues when the person preaching it always had a family safety net to make sure their bills were paid, they had food to eat, and that if there was a medical emergency, it was taken care of. She is blind to her own privilege about this.

I did not know this, because I do not know her well. I was assuming her plan B was Neil Gaiman!

I actually just realized I am actually on Plan C. Plan B was to be a high school theatre teacher, like ChiKat!

This. This is one of my big, BIG issues with it.

Of the people you knew 'round these parts in the music scene, are there any who wouldn't have been better off with a Plan B?

I mean, yeah, some of them wound up big, but they also wound up, well, dead later.

I did not know this, because I do not know her well. I was assuming her plan B was Neil Gaiman!

Nope. AP may have spent many years as a mime and a living statue, but she had family backing. Which is great! That's not my objection. My objection is not acknowledging that everyone else does not have that safety net.

Of the people you knew 'round these parts in the music scene, are there any who wouldn't have been better off with a Plan B?

For many of those people, their version of a Plan B was to have a never-ending supply of girlfriends who would pay the bills and feed them. I took a dim view of it then, I take a dim view of it now.

For many of those people, their version of a Plan B was to have a never-ending supply of girlfriends who would pay the bills and feed them. I took a dim view of it then, I take a dim view of it now.

A literal interpretation of her command!

I'm not sure where I fall on the Plan B argument except I've been reading and nodding throughout all of the posts (although I must admit, I'm not sure if this discussion should be in this thread tho!), but I am really really bothered by Palmer staying with very poor families in other countries and depending on their generosity. I wish she had thought about some kind of contribution to the local community or another means by which she could be generous as well to those with whom she was staying.

I heard about this a couple of weeks ago and I can't really get over it.

A literal interpretation of her command!

Bwahahahahahahaha! Yes, rather.

I think you're overstating the class issue. She may be blind to her privilege, but most American rock musicians are working class and took the same kinds of risks.

I was just reading Richard Hell's memoir the other day and the way he dealt with a living space is the way most musicians did: he shacked up with a rich lady, he didn't pay the rent when he didn't have the money because it took two months to evict somebody, he moved around a lot, he shared a super cheap space with another musician (Tom Verlaine) for five years where they didn't have anything except mattresses on the floor and scammed what food they could.

The musicians in Neutral Milk Hotel moved around constantly, where places would pop up where they could stay. They formed a kind of collective to support each others efforts. They didn't day job - they went outside the mainstream economy and worked in a gift economy. That's doable. That's what bohemians do.

If you can live with those kinds of risks and uncertainties you are creating opportunity for yourself.

When Malcolm Gladwell wrote about his 10,000 hours theory, he used the example of a writer whose wife supported him for five years while he learned how to be a writer.

If you want to get that 10,000 hours to achieve some level of mastery with your work, you aren't going to get there with Plan B.

David, temping IS a Plan B.

I don't think that's true. Temping was Plan A - doing a shit job that I didn't care about to support my writing. It wasn't a different path. I didn't take a "career" job. It paid no benefits and its chief virtue was it gave me freedom to do my other work. Waiting tables or working at a bookstore or a copy shop is not Plan B. It's what frees up your time to focus on your work.

She's not arguing that everybody needs to be a trust fund baby. She's saying that you have to live with risk and uncertainty to create. That you balance the need for security against your work.

People don't get rich by collecting salaries; they get rich by taking chances and risking loss. It's the same with artistic careers.

She has a point.

If you want to get that 10,000 hours to achieve some level of mastery with your work, you aren't going to get there with Plan B.

Bullshit. If I could get Chatty to register here, I would. Then he could tell you about his Plan B and yet he's still achieved his dream of inking for Marvel.