Nick Bertelson
ORP: What does success as a writer or artist mean to you?
Nick Bertelson: Success is a four letter word. You can pick the letters and add some too if you like. Or maybe it’s a three letter word. When you figure it out, let me know.
ORP: Does writing or creating energize or exhaust you? What aspects of your artistic process would you consider the most challenging or rewarding?
NB: Writing exhausts me as I grow older. I believe my brain is losing its elasticity as I approach 40, so ideas that once fueled me, though still present, rarely seem to bend to my whims. I can’t wrestle them into submission. Consequently, a lot of my writing now involves revising old work that I wrote when I was unafraid of sounding amateurish or naive.
ORP: What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing or creating? What advice would you give to another writer or artist?
NB: The days you don’t want to write are the days you work the hardest. I don’t remember who wrote that but it is true. Though it doesn’t make the act any easier, it certainly feels more rewarding when you hit your word count goal and can have that beer.
ORP: How does writing/art influence your worldview, and how does your worldview shape your writing/art?
NB: My politics and worldview are diverse and often contradictory. I never infuse my work with politics because art is meant to outlast whatever the world is going through in the current moment. It is easy to pluck events from recent developments in the political realm and put your own spin on it. It’s much harder to write something indicative of your time that isn’t trying to be a “hot take” on whatever is currently dominating the algorithm.