Resistance is Futile

The last week or so, the writing of my novel has come to a bumpy stretch worthy of California surface streets after this rainy winter we’ve had.  I thought it might be the fact that I’m wrestling with the business side of indie authoring.  Yes, I will admit that I’ve been consciously avoiding that quagmire, while also coming up with a name for my indie publishing business and budgeting in my head.  This has been a very Jekyll/Hyde process.

But this morning, I caught sight of Steven Pressfield’s book, Do The Work, buried under a bunch of other books in one of the many piles around the bedroom.  So, I carefully pulled it out and opened it up.  And right there, in front of my face, was the truth. 

I’d been in denial and hadn’t let myself believe that I was resisting finishing the book.  Yes, I’m about 2/3 of the way done on the first draft.  And, yes, I’ve been questioning whether anyone will want to read anything I’ve written.  To the point where I’m ready to put away my novelette about going through my parent’s breakup when I was in high school because, really, who cares about some 70’s teenager having a bad year or two?

Yup, somehow, I let Resistance take hold of me on both the business side and the creative side.  I’d been doing my business research to create a publishing company and writing merrily away, not a worry in sight.  Boy oh boy, I’d been tooling along like a ’69 Camaro on Route 66, blasting 80’s rock, wind in my gray, gray hair, then BAM!  I’d hit a wall and didn’t even realize it.  I feel like the walking wounded.  I’ve been avoiding my poor laptop for a week!

Do The Work is sort of a follow up to The War of Art, about how we talk ourselves out of our own creative impulses and how to talk ourselves back into our greatest successes.  Do The Work is project-specific, walking you through whatever your creative endeavor may be, offering tough love encouragement through each stage and its attendant resistance.  Flipping through DTW has, first, as I said above, made me see that resistance has reared its ugly head.  And second, it’s reminded me that I have two choices:  give up or keep going.  He tells a story about the rigorous training of Navy Seals and when a recruit can’t go on, they have to ring a bell. 

What bell?  I don’t hear a bell, do you??

Gotta go!!  I’m off to register my DBA for my indie publishing company and then I’ll finish plotting the climax of my cozy mystery, find some critique partners, get a logo and book covers designed, figure out what the heck an indie publisher does, finish the novel and…  and…  and… 

My laptop’s gonna get sick of me soon!