What I'm Reading: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Summer seems to have gotten away from me and this blog has been neglected.  For that, I apologize.

I have no excuses for not maintaining this blog, but I do have my reasons--first being a new house (yay, I feel so grown-up!) as well as a new job (yay, I have a regular paycheck!) and a new creative venture (Yay, I'm acting in a show again!).

I've also discovered the world of grilling in my back yard. 

But I digress.

I just finished reading Steven Pressfield's little book THE WAR OF ART.  If you are an artist/writer/poet/creative dreamer or just someone who wants to start a diet/exercise program or frankly anything that might be good for you in the long run, then you must read this book.  In fact, it should be required reading for everyone in college.  Any college, not just those studying the arts.

Without giving too much away, Pressfield delves into the idea of "Resistance".  What is Resistance and why does it always rear its ugly head when we desire to change, grow or create something good and unleash it into the world? 

This isn't a book about writer's block.  It's a book about how even professionals face this Resistance, sometimes in the form of fear or procrastination, but they persevere.  Every day.  This is not a "how to" book.  This book doesn't give you tips and tricks for overcoming your daily dose of Resistance.  It does give guidance and wisdom from the guy who was written many books (including The Legend of Bagger Vance). 

The book was a nice reminder to me to get to work.  If you are an artist, you define yourself by creating art, not talking about it, not thinking about it, but doing it.

So, like that Nike ad says...just do it.

Are you out of focus?

I’ll be honest.  I don’t feel like writing today.  There have been a lot of days like that in the past year.  A little less lately, but they still come and go.  

These are the days that separate the writers from the dabblers.  Writers don't have the luxury of choosing to work only when they feel inspired.  They show up and do the work.  

There are many days I’m sure you don’t want to get up and go to work, but you do any way.  It’s the same with writing.

(Oh sure, some days you might call in sick and call it a “mental health” day--I mean, I'm not knocking anyone who wants to get their Ferris Bueller on).  

My wife has just finished writing a dissertation.  This is like writing a book.  And writing a book is like writing anything else, like a play or a screenplay.  In order to write this giant academic masterpiece she had to have two things:

•   Incredible focus for a length of time
• A plan

Focus is what gets us up in the morning and drives us through the hard times, through the days when we don’t want to work.  Focus is what allows us see the final outcome.  Focus is our energy put to good use.

A plan is just that--a plan.  It’s not just saying, “I’m going to get up at 6 am and write for an hour every morning” but that’s part of it.  A plan is saying I’m going to write an abstract today, a summary tomorrow, a chapter this week, a chapter next week, etc.  When I did the exercise of writing a screenplay in 28 days, the best thing about it was how it laid out a plan of writing.  One day you write a paragraph outline, next day you write 10 pages, then the next 10, and on and on.  Next thing you know, you have a screenplay.

You have to have a plan and focus.  Okay, maybe not you.  Maybe you have that already and good for you, but I don't.  I haven’t had a plan or focus in a long time.  So I’m doing a lot of planning right now.  I’m planning out the things I want to write about in this blog, for example.  I’m planning on my projects for the coming year and after.  

I’m planning on doing a lot of writing.  

Of course, planning about writing isn’t writing.  Only writing is writing.

But I’ll save that topic for later.

How do you fill the void?

“Your art should cost you something; otherwise stay home and do it for your cat.”

Stephen Adly Guirgis, playwright

I know, I know. I have been a very bad blogger.

I blame Facebook.

Okay, perhaps, Facebook can't be the scapegoat here.  Not entirely. Lately, writing has not been fun. Writing a grocery list or an email has been torture. Even writing one-liners for my status posts has been agony. So I’ve taken a break from writing these past few months to deal with some life issues.  And I’m okay with that. Everyone needs to step back sometimes to reevaluate and refresh—more on that later.

What I am not okay with is seeing how this blog has gotten so off-track.

Often, we forget that writing can’t just be a one-way street filled with venting or talking nonsense into the ether. Not good writing, anyway. It needs to connect to the audience. There doesn’t have to be some overt message, but it should have a point. Otherwise, as Guirgis says, do it for your cat.

So. What was my point?

This blog is called “Fighting the Void” because I believe everyone can be artistic. Everyone has talent. Not all of us are destined to become Van Gogh (and who would want to be crazy enough to cut off an ear anyway?). But all of us are capable living creative lives.

The trouble is we struggle with resistance. We hear critical thoughts from our inner editor. We are self-defeating, thinking its all crap. Or we have trouble figuring out what exactly it is we want to say. We are afraid of what people will think of our “true self” or how we really feel about things. So we do nothing, because that’s easier.

Making something, anything, is a struggle. And its not just art I’m talking about. It’s making a spreadsheet that people can read. It’s making a presentation that captivates a meeting room instead of putting people to sleep. It’s living fully and finding joy and passion no matter what we are doing.

In other words, my fellow warrior in art, I have led you astray. I have filled these posts with tangents, tidbits, oddities, and negative rants. Not anymore. This space will be devoted to thoughts on the daily struggle of fighting the void.

But here’s a question for you (if you have actually read this far)—what do you want to see in this blog? What posts have helped you, entertained you, or kept you motivated when all seems bleak? If your answer is nothing, then I would like to know that, too.

This blog is just not for my own wandering musings, but to connect. I don’t want to be in this fight alone.

So, what do ya say? Are you going to join me in the fight?