"He must be independent and brave, and sure of himself and of the importance of his work, because if he isn't he will never survive the scorching blasts of derision that will probably greet his first efforts"
About this Quote
Art isn’t judged in a vacuum; it’s auditioned in public, under hot lights, by people who didn’t make it. Sherwood’s sentence is a survival manual disguised as a character requirement. Independence and bravery aren’t romantic virtues here, they’re industrial gear: the protective casing you need when your first work meets the world’s favorite sport, contempt.
The phrase “scorching blasts of derision” does the heavy lifting. It’s not “criticism,” not even “rejection,” but a kind of weather event - impersonal, sudden, and strangely predictable. Sherwood’s subtext is that early failure is not an exception to the creative life; it’s the default setting. That “probably” is a cold little joke: he’s pretending to soften the claim while actually tightening it. Expect ridicule. Plan for it.
Sherwood wrote from inside a theater culture where first efforts are especially vulnerable: plays aren’t quietly revised in private; they’re performed, reviewed overnight, and talked about in lobbies. A novelist can hide behind pages; a playwright watches the room. In that context, “sure of himself” isn’t ego so much as a refusal to let the audience’s immediate reaction become the final verdict on the work’s future.
The sharpest implication is about “the importance of his work.” Sherwood isn’t demanding self-aggrandizement; he’s naming the psychological trick every artist needs: believing the work matters before anyone else agrees. Without that pre-belief, derision doesn’t just sting - it edits you into silence.
The phrase “scorching blasts of derision” does the heavy lifting. It’s not “criticism,” not even “rejection,” but a kind of weather event - impersonal, sudden, and strangely predictable. Sherwood’s subtext is that early failure is not an exception to the creative life; it’s the default setting. That “probably” is a cold little joke: he’s pretending to soften the claim while actually tightening it. Expect ridicule. Plan for it.
Sherwood wrote from inside a theater culture where first efforts are especially vulnerable: plays aren’t quietly revised in private; they’re performed, reviewed overnight, and talked about in lobbies. A novelist can hide behind pages; a playwright watches the room. In that context, “sure of himself” isn’t ego so much as a refusal to let the audience’s immediate reaction become the final verdict on the work’s future.
The sharpest implication is about “the importance of his work.” Sherwood isn’t demanding self-aggrandizement; he’s naming the psychological trick every artist needs: believing the work matters before anyone else agrees. Without that pre-belief, derision doesn’t just sting - it edits you into silence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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