And Other Tough-Love Truths to Make You a Better Writer
Buy here.
What’s In It For You?
If you write for a living, and want to be read, and want your writing to be acted upon, this is the book for you.
Who is the Author?
Steven Pressfield has made his writing career in five different worlds, from Advertising to Self Help.
“It isn’t that people are mean or cruel.
They’re just busy.
Nobody wants to read your shit.
What’s the answer?
When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, your mind becomes powerfully concentrated. You begin to understand that writing/reading is, above all, a transaction. The reader donates his time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. In return, you the writer must give him something worthy of his gift to you.
When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy.
You acquire the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of your reader/gallery-goer/customer. You learn to ask yourself with every sentence and every phrase: Is this interesting? Is it fun or challenging or inventive? Am I giving the reader enough? Is she bored? Is she following where I want to lead her?”
Strolling a mile or two in the moccasins of your time pressed reader. It’s (hopefully!) taught me to be succinct, stop the waffle.
Pithy is an adjective that describes speech or writing that is brief, forceful, and packed with meaning.
- “Streamline your message. Focus it and pare it down to its simplest, clearest, easiest-to-understand form.” Which heartens me, as that is why Philosophers Quotes was born, to distil the work of Heroic / Philosophers Notes down further to just the original quotes. Pithy Style!
- Second:“Make its expression fun. Or sexy or interesting or scary or informative. Make it so compelling that a person would have to be crazy NOT to read it.” I don’t know which of these “Jamie-ese” is, but I shall persist with it!
- Third:“Apply that to all forms of writing or art or commerce.” I am going to apply it to conversations too, as they are a similar exchange of time & attention. I have been meaning to “Shut the flock up, and listen” for a while now. 2 ears, one mouth, and all that.
Your White Whale.
“The #1 question that writers ask themselves: ‘I’ve got a million ideas.
How do I know which one to work on?’ Answer: Write your White Whale.
Which idea, of all those swimming inside your brain, are you compelled to pursue the way Ahab was driven to hunt Moby Dick? Here’s how you know—you’re scared to death of it.
It’s good to be scared. You should be scared. Mediocre ideas never elevate the heart rate. Great ones make you break out in a sweat.…
Is there a White Whale out there for you? There is or you wouldn’t be reading this book. You’ll know that whale by these qualities: Its accomplishment will seem beyond your resources. Your pursuit of it will bear you into waters where no one before you has sailed. To hunt this beast will require everything you’ve got.”
Ideas are ten a penny, everybody’s got them, and like opinions and ar5eholes, most of ’em stink! Focus & follow thru are the rare commodity, which separate the wheat from the chaff. ‘Run toward the sound of the guns.’ wherever & whatever they may be.
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