Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Resistance

Writer's block has officially hit... and as Steven Pressfield, Shawn Coyne and Seth Godin would put it, RESISTANCE rears its ugly head and pushes me on my rear. For those who aren't familiar with the term "Resistance", it can be defined as that moment when the creative process seems to sputter and die and all of a sudden you start thinking of the other million and one things you could be doing other than write. How one deals with that is the dividing line on whether you're a pro or an amateur.

Today, I need to write. I have a deadline. The words are not going to write themselves. People are depending on me to dig in, push through and get to the other side.

But, and this is a big "But", I am so tempted to avoid it. I want to sit back; watch a movie; play a game on my ipad; read a book; doodle; make myself a meal (I mean it's closer to lunchtime anyway); play with the dogs; water the plants; clean the house; work on finances and spreadsheets; go over real estate; take a trip and run shopping errands... there's a zillion things I can think of to do other than work on what I'm supposed to work on (for instance: this blog post).

As for the assignment? Would you believe I'm writing an old style opera with my husband, the composer. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up creating the story, writing the book (libretto) and now I'm on Lyric assignment. After charging through and plotting everything out; figuring out what will be sung and what is dialogue; writing a ton of lyrics in tandem with my husband's arias/songs and throwing down a bunch of dialogue... there's still a bit to do.

This past week, we took a bit of a break. Writing an opera is like running a marathon. My husband and I are accustomed to sprinting (Film and TV demands the almighty sprint). We are definitely feeling the burn, to the point where burn out was screaming at us. So, we took some time off. However, it's time to get back work. Annnnnd all I want to do is sleep. Eat. Exercise. Sleep again. Read a good book. But it's NOT OVER YET!!! ARGHH!!!

Okay. I feel a little better. But the question remains... how will I push through? My initial response is to write this blog post. Get my juices running and write words even if they don't exactly pertain to my actual assignment. But as soon as I jump off here, I'm going to make myself work on Act 3... even if it isn't perfect. Even if I want to rewrite it a million times. I'm going to write through to those last 2 movements that are already written. ('Cause ya know... that's how we roll. We wrote the ending first. I mean, hey.... you gotta know where it's all going or it won't be tight). By the same token, we've gotta be willing to toss it if it ceases to work. So far, it's working. It's working great. I'll feel fantastic when this is done.

I will not be an amateur. I will fight for the words... I'll fight to finish. There's room for improvement later. For now, dig in, dig deep and run towards the finish line.

Meditation:
May I never give up in the face of discouragement, in the face of the evil of the world. May I never betray what I know to be right and may I always find the strength to smile peacefully and stand still in the face of an unrelenting storm.

And for anyone interested, here's a great post on "Resistance" by Steven Pressfield, author of "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and "Gates of Fire":
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2011/05/resistance-and-addiction/


"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"- Hebrews 12:1




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