Internal Support?

Keith, thank you for your blurring, your passionate articulation of the site of your creation, your borderlands. As I read, I wondered if we're talking about the difference in orientation between a novelist and a performance artist. My experience of writing is solitary. My form draws me inward for years at a time. Given that, it's not surprising that I would rely upon internal validation -- the external kind didn't arrive for me for ten years. If I didn't find internal support I never would have finished Brigid's Charge. I see writers give up because external success doesn't come quickly or easily so they think they aren't good enough. That's what I was trying to say to Robert. I also avoid deadlines -- don't seek agents or publication until the work is done -- because too many of the modern novels I read feel unfinished, and I blame that (perhaps I'm wrong) on the false imposition of a deadline by a publisher. I also recognize that a deadline can fuel creation -- as I'm certain it has in your case. I believe that novels need to mature in the vat -- at least mine always have -- and I never want to introduce a novel that isn't done yet. I'm almost persuaded by a vision of a community of novelists, supporting and challenging one another. Perhaps that's what this forum can be? I appreciate you and Robert opening this up so eloquently. I'm still left believing in my original statement, that internal support, by which I mean, believing in oneself, is crucial in order to weather the rejection that comes with trying to publish fiction and poetry today. For many novelists and poets, external support isn't even an option. We have to rely upon ourselves, and from there seek what we need/desire externally.