The Artist's Way

more—all as I toiled as a writer for such diverse publications
as Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Village Voice,
New York, New West, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago
Tribune, and, most conspicuously, American Film, where I
served as a contributing editor for many years. In short, you
might say I have done my dharma to my favored art form.
Why all of this diverse, hydra-headed productivity?
Because I love movies, love making them, and did not want
my losses to take me down. I learned, when hit by loss, to
ask the right question: “What next?” instead of “Why me?”
Whenever I am willing to ask “What is necessary next?” I
have moved ahead. Whenever I have taken no for a final
answer I have stalled and gotten stuck. I have learned that
the key to career resiliency is self-empowerment and choice.
If you look at long and successful creative careers, you
will see this principle in action. The distinguished
videographer Shirley Clarke began her creative career as a
dancer. She first became a filmmaker so that there would be
some properly made dance films. Distinguishing herself
next as a first-rate feature director, winning renown in
Europe if not directing jobs in American studios, Clarke
became the first American director to shoot a feature in
Harlem, the first American director to explore the range of
hand-held camera, the American director that John
Cassavetes, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Shrader all credit as
seminal in their own artistic formation. Alas, she was a
woman and she lived in difficult times. When her
filmmaking revenues dried up, she became one of the first