Do the Work

Before I begin creating art (book for me, but fill in with your specifics) or if I'm looking to restart because my writing has stalled, I read Steven Pressfield's books. Do the Work is what I'll talk about today, but I also highly recommend The War of Art and Turning Pro.

Here is what I learned from Steven Pressfield about starting hard things (Steven uses writing as his vehicle, but it applies to every endeavour).

Any time you do anything, there is an opposing force

Steven calls this the resistance. It's something that stops you from taking action. The resistance shows up whenever you want to do something to delay immediate gratification for long-term growth, health or integrity (developing a healthy habit, starting a business, taking a course).

How do you overcome the resistance?

Stubbornness. Stupidity. Passion. Sara Blakely had no idea what she was getting into when she started Spanx - if she overthought it, she might not have started it. That same naivety helped her build Spanx into a billion-dollar company.

Getting started

Start before you're ready. Don't do (a lot of) research. Research is another form of resistance.

Expect the work to be messy. It's not going to be clean. It's not going to be perfect. You are going to make mistakes (if you're lucky, those mistakes won't completely disrupt you).

Hit a home run. If you're going to work on something, why not swing for the fences?

The three-act structure

Everything can be broken down into three acts.

(From Do the Work)

Facebook:

• A digital commons in which anyone can establish, free, their own personal page
• Each page owner decides who is permitted access
• This creates a community of 'friends' who can interact with other 'friends' and communicate or share virtually anything they want

The Last Supper

• Supper table stretching across the width of the canvas
• Jesus standing in the center, apostles arrayed in various postures left and right
• Perspective and background tailing off behind

The three-act structure is what you need to get started. The details will come later.

Get a first draft out ASAP

Good writers know that the first draft is only the start of the work, which is why writers work on completing the first draft as soon as possible. No judgment. No evaluation. No editing.

After the first draft, the real work begins (rewriting, editing, making ideas clearer, making sure your writing is on theme, etc.)

Keep working

Stephen King writes every day. Whether it's his birthday, Christmas, or Fourth of July, he keeps working. I remember reading Stephen took a break from writing and it took him several weeks to get back on track with his writing routine. A man who has written every day for several decades!

The end

When Michael Crichton approached the end of a novel, he started getting up earlier and earlier in the morning. He wanted to keep his momentum going. He would wake up earlier and earlier until he drove his wife insane. So he checked into a hotel and worked around the clock till he finished the book.

Michael knew the resistance was strongest at the finish.

Do what you have to do to ship (finish the book, hit publish on that article, hit send on that email, put the finishing touches on your painting).

Believe me when I say it gets easier to ship once you have shipped before. Not because there is no resistance the next time, but because having slayed the dragon once, you know you can do it the next time.

Hey! Did you know I also have a Substack where I share what I learned from the 50+ books I read every year? It's a lot like this newsletter - a weekly article - except I also cover health and other non-work related topics. I have been writing regularly on Substack for 2 years and my latest article is what I learned from Cal Newport's latest book Slow Productivity.