Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It

by Steven Pressfield

Cut everything that’s not on-theme. And what you keep, make all of it work on-theme.

Hook. Build. Payoff.

There is an Evil Force that is constantly defeating us as artists and bringing to naught all of our dreams. Let’s name that force, accept it as our enemy, and figure out how to overcome it.

THERE IS A DEVIL Resistance is real. Self-sabotage is a fact. Radiating off the blank page, the empty canvas, the unexposed can of film is a force of relentless, merciless, protean evil that makes the Emperor Ming look like your sweet aunt Edna. That’s Reality #1. Anyone who tells you different is a liar.

THERE IS A MUSE As powerful as is the negative, destructive force we name Resistance, so mighty is the positive, creative force we call the Muse. Sit down. Open the faucet. The stuff that will appear, sometimes anyway, will exceed your fondest visions. You will stare down at it and exclaim, “Where in the world did that come from?”

They tune in to the Cosmic Radio Station and listen to whatever song is being broadcast specifically to them.

The artist enters the Void with nothing and comes back with something. Her skill is to turn off the self-censor. Her skill is to jump off the cliff. Her skill is to believe.

a gift that it is holding specifically for us

Is there a White Whale out there for you? There is or you wouldn’t be reading this book.

I forgive you and I forgive myself.