Jewel on the "myth of perfection," 2001

I don’t think it’s my job to perpetuate a myth of perfection as an artist. I really liked reading Charles Bukowski and Anaïs Nin and authors who would let me see their process, let me see how they developed. Because as a young kid, I thought, “OK, this is something I can do. You don’t just start out writing The Grapes of Wrath.” And so I’ve never wanted to look more perfect than I am in the public eye, because why would you want to alienate people from thinking they can do what you do? I think a lot of artists enjoy that gap--they like perpetuating the myth that they are sort of a special chosen race of artistically perfect, fit people. But it’s not true--there are a lot of songs I’ve written that aren’t very good, and all you can do is put out what’s honest and keep going and developing with time and just focus on development more than anything.

From the book The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour's Guide to Writing, Performing, Recording, and Business