Evoke Emotion (if you're trying to make it as an artist)

Whether we like this pedestrian idea or not, evoking emotion is the primary aim of artists (whether acting, painting, writing, joke telling, etc)--the trick, of course, is twofold/

1) different people learn to reveal emotions in culturally contingent ways, so class status, and background variables will impact how and to what extent they'll be able to reveal emotions

2) your own personal struggle put into art (i.e. your own emotional development) might not resonate with large sectors of the population.  that's why artists hate "commercial" artists who pander to a broader section--primarily because those first group of artists fancy themselves to reveal to a higher level of taste, whereas commercial artists are more like politicians.

BUT, if you're a struggling artist, it would be a good idea to look outward and think about whether what  you're doing resonates with other people and not just with your own sense of accurately portraying your internal self, however interesting to you.