We said in last week’s post that Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t. And that as soon as you and I grasp this concept, we have made a primary Artist’s Breakthrough.

We have acquired empathy.

When we understand that nobody wants to read our shit, our mind becomes powerfully concentrated. We begin to understand that writing/reading/painting is, at its most fundamental level, a transaction.

The reader or viewer donates her time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. In return, you and I—the writer/artist/poet/singer/dancer—must give her something worthy of her gift to you.

How do we do this?

We work to develop the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in our imagination from our own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of our reader/gallery-goer/customer.

Is she following where we want to lead her?

We say to ourselves, “Recognizing that no one wants to read our shit, we must therefore stop at nothing until our shit is so interesting, so eye-catching, so funny/sad/sexy that the reader would have to be CRAZY not to jump at it.”

We learn to ask ourselves with every sentence and every visual image:

“Is this interesting? Is it fun or challenging or inventive? Am I giving the reader enough? Is she following where I want to lead her?”

The post Empathy first appeared on Steven Pressfield.