Edward Albee referred to negative critical response as the inevitable ax falling. Francis Ford Coppola spoke about the proclivity of critics to topple the very pedestals on which they placed creative artists. For this reason, playwright Lillian Hellman once observed, "It is necessary that you not become frightened of failure."
Hellman makes a salient point in response to this destiny that writers will ultimately experience. In theater more than other literary endeavors, many factors can contribute to a flop: the director's interpretation, the actors' performances, the set and light designers' staging, and critics eager to build their reputation at the expense of the writer among them. Therefore, failure seems inevitable. It's part of the business. It's public, it's embarrassing, it's painful. But it will happen. Fearing the specter of failure is no different from fearing the inevitability of death.
Since writers need not worry about the certainty of failure, they have only one responsibility: to write.
Hellman makes a salient point in response to this destiny that writers will ultimately experience. In theater more than other literary endeavors, many factors can contribute to a flop: the director's interpretation, the actors' performances, the set and light designers' staging, and critics eager to build their reputation at the expense of the writer among them. Therefore, failure seems inevitable. It's part of the business. It's public, it's embarrassing, it's painful. But it will happen. Fearing the specter of failure is no different from fearing the inevitability of death.
Since writers need not worry about the certainty of failure, they have only one responsibility: to write.
