Baxter

     One reason that Charle's Baxter's "Full of It" is such an effective and inspiring piece is because of the feeling of normalcy that comes across in his honesty. It is easy for us as readers to view the writing of a full novel as something of an almost supernatural accomplishment -- it seems incomprehensible that so many of us can struggle to write a page long essay for class yet someone can sit down and pound out 500 eloquently worded pages. Consequently, it is often times hard for us to really personally sympathize with an author, because we may instinctively view them on a higher -- or at least differently functioning -- mental plane. We need to remember that even the Hemingway's and the Beethoven's and Piccasso's of the world, though extremely talented, are still nonetheless people just like ourselves.
    In "Full of it," Baxter effectively tears down this barrier between the reader and the author. Baxter, an accomplished author, outlines his immense difficulty in becoming a writer -- how he experienced so many failures as a writer that his first success came from actually documenting these mishaps. He writes of how misconceived his earlier stories were, and how he came precariously close to quitting writing altogether and becoming a small-town teacher. All of a sudden, it doesn't feel so intimidating to think of an author as a "person" instead of an "author."
   Additionally, I don't think that his point extends merely to authors. Although he is talking directly about writing in the piece, the same standards can be extended towards artists of all kinds. There are plenty of extraordinary musicians and artists in the world that struggled greatly to get where they are -- are is never a smooth journey, even for the most talented among us.