People don't usually take arguments about things personally. Arguments are simply a clash of ideas that people hold. Ideas are pretty dime a dozen and not particularly precious.
Art on the other hand is personal. Good art is, anyway. Therefore it can be a lot harder to subject this piece of yourself to public scrutiny and it means that conversations about someone's work of art with them can be a lot harder to do.
I left a comment:
I was once in a tough workshop where someone brought in a very close, personal set of emails which were very dear in their heart. After reading the emails to the group, there was a silence. Everyone was afraid to deal with the emails because, well, they were so personal and private.
Then one of the cast members decided to make some adjustments. He started out by asking the person who brought in the emails, "Can I treat these emails as a dramatic text?" From that point forward, we were able to work with the emails like we would work with Hamlet, or Macbeth.
I guess what I'm saying is that all of our art has to come from inside of us, but it has to go to the outside world, and once its out there, it has to be treated like dramatic text, like something for everyone. The artist doesn't have monopoly over their work--it's something they've given to the people who've paid to see it, to the community it's presented for.
