Incentive

There’s a clear incentive when it comes to things that are practical or job-related. For example, earning an income, or having tools to build something, or software to complete a task. But when it comes to the arts, the incentive comes from within. It comes from an internal drive, an incentive that is motivated by the thoughts and ideas themselves.

The characters in the story aren’t aware out of the outside world, how much profit is made from their story, since they’re contained within the prism of the story. They exist within the realm of an imaginative world, representing notions about humanity that transcend monetary value, since its value lies in the impact of the ideas within the story, whether the reader bought the novel from a bookstore or checked it out from the library. And with regard to paintings, sculptures, and music, they’re made not with respect to their utility, but with regard to the emotions that the artist conveys or evokes through them.

Therefore, the incentive for works of art is deeper than whatever monetary value that is assigned to them, or however many copies are sold. It’s not like a piece of furniture, or a tool that has a specific purpose for fixing or building something. The value comes from what the artist or writer has to say, what they want to convey. The incentive is something that’s communicated–the voice of the artist, the author.