Aw, you guys -- "There you go again!" -- with all this discussion about "mentors" -- and no attempt first to reconcile your various notions of "mentor".
I'm not aware of ever having what I'd call a "mentor" -- someone who provided one-on-one guidance and counseling,over a priod of time (I.e. one life-changing encounter doesn't qualify -- about the fundamentals of each of the three areas of concentration in my life -- philosophy, the business of book-publishing, playwriting. With that notion of "mentor", the guy needn't be personally with me. I can imagine a good vademecum book doing the job. "Oh? But, in college didn't someone guide you in your reading, give you tests?" But that would make almost every teacher I ever had my mentor. I was pushed through good course-syllabuses in college, but if I'd had my own semi-private tutor banging on me, I might not have quit philosophy in grad school. My book publishing job required two things: useful math and business logic, and reading sensibility. I was given one immensely useful insight into the physiology of business. The time required was one lunch, and reading the guy's analysis of the profitability of one department at Doubleday (crime and mysteries). It's hard to think of that as mentorship. I have no idea where the reading sensibility came from. One just discovers one has it -- or doesn't have it. I discovered that I could read with interest even a "ladies gothic novel"; if I wanted to turn the pages, so would the ideal intended audience. I discovered I couldn't do it with science fiction or fantasy. There was not vademecum book for editing a novel -- so I wrote the only book available to this day. When I left publishing, I was given several industry awards for lifetime contributions -- all of which stressed my so-called "innovation". Hell, I HAD to innovate -- there was no reliable "mentor" to be found. And, in case this be taken as a secret boast, though my house prospered like crazy, I'd love to think I was inspiredly brilliant, but in fact it didn't seem to me I did a single "ingenious" thing. It all felt like obvious common sense stuff. In playwriting, which I began very late, I've had various private readers, directors, producers. They gave some good (and bad) specific tips about specific scripts, but no ongoing fundamental guidance whatever. What I "know", I picked up by watching plays, reading playwrights' autobios, reading books by critics and teachers, none of whom sticks out of my crowded memory. So, to Chris's question, I'd say yes, you can make your way without a mentor (in my sense of "mentor".) ************** One site has it all. Your email accounts, your social networks, and the things you love. Try the new AOL.com today!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212962939x1200825291/aol?redir=http: //www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp%26icid=aolcom40vanity%26ncid=emlcntaolcom00000001)
