DramaLit Blog 1.0: BU School of Theatre

I stumbled upon (for shame!) this article about becoming a better writer…and frankly, having just come from playwriting, it was a pretty timely coincident. The entire thing is pretty cool and I agree with some and not with others and I know some of them bug me because they’re things I’m bad at and wish I was better at, etc. etc., but I really liked number 2,by Steven Pressfield. Pressfield is a novelist, screenwriter, etc. mostly of historical fiction. Most notably to me, though, he wrote a book called, “The War of Art: Break Through The Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.” *Logs into Amazon and searches furtively: two-day one-click*

Pressfield says, “Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around “getting ready,” the more time and opportunity we’ll have to sabotage ourselves. Resistance loves it when we hesitate, when we over-prepare. The answer: plunge in.”

This guy knows me a little too well already.

I think I suffer from a severe want to, as Pressfield puts it, “noodle around getting ready.” I always think I need something outside of myself to set me right and put me in the right place to work: a director, a cup of tea, a clean kitchen, a new pair of shoes, a workout, a mint, a shower, a talk with mom…the list goes on and on. (Cory Doctorow addresses this in number 22: “Write even when the world is chaotic. You don’t need a cigarette, silence, music, a comfortable chair, or inner peace to write. You just need ten minutes and a writing implement.” INFURIATING, BUT TRUE!)

Anyway, I don’t think these tips are just for writers, I think they’re for everyone. We (I) spend so much valuable time thinking about and planning for the brilliant work I’m going to do when I could just be… doing it.