From the War of Art: Break through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield:
“… the most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.
“Why is this so important?”
“Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set in motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause, serendipity reinforces our purpose.
“This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down ech day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.
“Just as Resistance has its seat in hell, so Creation has its home in heaven. And it’s not just a witness, but an eager and active ally.
“What I call Professionalism someone else might call the Artist’s Code or the Warrior’s Way. It’s an attitude of egolessness and service. The Knights of the Round Table were chaste and self-effacing. Yet they dueled dragons.
“We’re facing dragons too. Fire-breathing griffins of the soul, whom we must outfight and outwit to reach the treasure of our self-potential and to release the maiden who is God’s plan and destiny for ourselves and the answer to why we were put on this planet.”
Love this! the War of Art is one of my most treasured writing guides — it’s practical, yet spiritual, no-nonsense, yet inspirational.
Resistance — we all know what that is — like Steven, we meet it every day. In a nutshell, it’s anything that keeps us from our writing — fear, distraction, doubt, overglorification of writing as an art instead of a craft. Anything that keeps us from sitting down and attacking the page.
Yet, like Steven says so well, when we bypass Resistance, when we decide we won’t let it get in our way, then something mysterious happens — the universe comes to our aid. The Muse approves. Ideas flow. We get the inspiration we need. Just by showing up and sitting down, we set powerful forces in motion. Let’s remember this as we all write on!
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