This is why I’ve been very critical of going to art or writing school if you want to make ‘good’ art. Not saying it can’t be valuable, especially if you already have a point of view and you’re struggling to find the skills to articulate it. But theres a reason why “40 year old writer getting a divorce,” is such an archetype in pretentious books.
If your whole identity is just Artist then 1. Your ego and personal narrative might get in the way of taking actual risks, and you might get too caught up in emulating what success as an Artiste is expected to look like and end up enmeshing yourself and your voice in an already incredibly inbred scene. Ooor 2. Your artistic narrative becomes the struggles of being an Artist, which roughly 99 percent of artists have some type of opinion on, of which half of them have already made into their own thesis.
I have weird-life-story-privilege, but in general ive always been a proponent of the idea that if you have a creative bone in your body you should just go out and experience a bunch of random ass shit. Become the guy at the welding workshop, delete social media, get really into a specific field that is in no way at all associated with creativity. Make mistakes, take risks and feel the consequences under your skin.
That life changing book you read is that way because the author had their own truth to share. Instead of copying their ideas you need to live your own life until youre left with a question or epiphany that just about forces you to pick up a pencil if only to get it out of your own head. You’re a human being, not a xerox.