Anya Hindmarch “The most important thing I’ve learned over the years is: don’t lose sight of who will wear your designs. Don’t get carried away by what others think, as often their views are about art and not sales, and sadly sales are what is required to fund your art.”
[Anya Hindmarch, quoted in ‘Grazia’ magazine January 18, 2010]
[photo: anyahindmarch.com]
So, write what is true to yourself.
What’s the best advice about writing you’ve ever been given?
For Anya Hindmarch’s website, click here.
Don’t know who Anya Hindmarch is? Read this article in the Daily Telegraph about the handbag designer.
Try these tips to get ahead:-
Donna Karan
Gail Rebuck
Kate Silverton
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Don’t lose sight of your customer: advice from #fashion designer @anyahindmarch via @SandraDanby #amwriting
It think the best single piece of advice is simply to write, much and often, so that you improve. And to sustain that ongoing level of time and energy commitment then I guess it needs to involve something you’re invested in, that you feel you can develop into something good and worthwhile. That probably amounts to much the same thing as being true to yourself. That said, Anya Hindmarch has a point about sales and producing what people will want, and I don’t think a writer who wants to sell books – and especially if they want to make some kind of living from it – can ignore that. So I guess the ideal solution is to find a writing project that seems to satisfy both criteria: something you really believe and can invest in, but also you have reason to believe might sell.
Absolutely, Christopher. Self-belief is something that successful people have, whatever their skill, but particularly in the creative arts. SD