Thanks to Paul McVeigh for posting this fantastically inspirational article by Matt Weiner of Mad Men fame. I love Weiner’s article and want to share it with everyone for a bunch of reasons. Firstly, because everything in it is true and generous and important for all writers, actually all artists, to hear. Secondly, of course, because I love Mad Men and have allowed it to infiltrate my fantasy life for years now (weird as that may be, somehow it seems healthier than allowing Game of Thrones in there). And thirdly, Weiner and I share an alma mater. We both went to Wesleyan University, as he calls it ‘a very small, liberal arts school’, and one which has always prided itself on finding creative, slightly quirky people and squeezing the best out of them, painful as that may sometimes be. Weiner has his stories. I have mine. But I’m proud that we both went to a school that helped create the artists we have both turned out to be. Nobody said it was easy. But reading this piece helps it feel a little less crazy.
Thanks, Matt, and thanks, Paul.