But they shall not be very bad.

I had a post a couple of days ago about Nietzsche's emphasis on the importance in a great artist in knowing what to reject; Indefatigable not only in inventing, but also in rejecting, sifting, transforming, ordering.

Here is a corollary sentiment from Henry James via Library of America (Henry James: Complete Stories 1864-1874.

While writing and publishing his early stories (many of which he never republished), James was the first to acknowledge that they were apprentice work, created to satisfy popular taste. The year “A Problem” was published, he wrote, “I write little and only tales, which I think it likely I shall continue to manufacture in a hackish manner, for that which is bread. They cannot of necessity be very good; but they shall not be very bad.” Still, even when the young James was slumming it, his tales have an atypically breezy appeal and are of interest to anyone intrigued by the development of one of America’s greatest authors.