I think I understand what he means about beliefs. They may — indeed, must — inform what you write, but if you make them the point of what you write, what you write becomes propaganda.
I think he's singling out ideological belief, not necessarily the belief -- which quickly turns into a disbelief, but that you tell other people is a bona-fide belief -- that what you're working on is worth publishing between two covers. Since art very much thrives on the spectator believing in it, it seems to me that the artist requires some bare minimum of belief, but this is ultimately the subconscious playing trickster. In other words, once you've gone down the road where belief has taken you, it's no longer applicable and it's much too late. And that's where the true discovery begins for reader and writer alike.
I think he's singling out ideological belief, not necessarily the belief -- which quickly turns into a disbelief, but that you tell other people is a bona-fide belief -- that what you're working on is worth publishing between two covers. Since art very much thrives on the spectator believing in it, it seems to me that the artist requires some bare minimum of belief, but this is ultimately the subconscious playing trickster. In other words, once you've gone down the road where belief has taken you, it's no longer applicable and it's much too late. And that's where the true discovery begins for reader and writer alike.
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