Think Like a Pro

"There is a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing that is hard. What's hard is sitting down to write."

-- David Mack, Kabuki: The Alchemy

Do you want to be a pro?

I didn't at first. I knew I wanted to write. I wanted to prove to myself I could finish a novel, maybe publish it if anyone was interested (little did I know finishing a novel is the easy part).

Then I learned about the system. I read the blogs of authors and agents. I researched everything I could about writing a good query letter. I looked up statistics on debut author's advances. And as I poked my head into the publishing world, I discovered something.

I really, really wanted to be a part of it.

Something weird happened that day, and has been happening since. I wanted to be a pro, and suddenly I began acting like one. I tried to write everyday. I paid attention to what worked and what didn't on my blog, even kept a schedule. I became more professional (a term which often means "silent") when voicing my opinions on the internet. Sometimes I even interacted with people in real life(!) thinking they might someday buy the book I don't have published.

Totally insane, but helpful, I think. If you're writing for fun or therapy, and you don't care whether you ever sell anything, then who cares? Do what you want. BUT if you want to become a professional someday, now is a good time to act like one. It might feel silly at times, even a tad arrogant -- and you should never, ever let it get in the way of real life.

But for all that, it works.

"You imagine what you want to be and you act as if you are that. Ghandi said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'.

If you want to create, you must treat it with the respect and dedication that a pro would."

The War of Art, VI

From David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy. (Read Parts I, II, III, IV, and V). This is an idea I'm not sure I understand completely yet. Maybe I'm not a true artist, but when I get in the zone it's usually because I already know what needs to happen. Sometimes ideas just come to me, but it's rare. More often than not, even when in the zone, I'll have to stop at some point where I don't know what happens next, or the protagonist is seeing an airship for the first time and I don't know what it looks like, or he is escaping out of a window ledge and I need to figure out what's there and how (or whether) he can possibly escape.

Usually I brainstorm at this point, and one or two of the things I end up thinking of will be kind of good. Maybe I'm defining "in the zone" differently. Or maybe I get distracted too easily (that's not hard - I'm usually writing in a room with 2-3 other kids that are sometimes vying for my attention in ways ranging from respectful to naughty).

Part VI of VI:

Pressfield cites
the other secret true
artists know that
wannabe writers don't:
"When we sit down each
day and do our work,
power concentrates
around us".

What Pressfield
calls professionalism
others may call the
Artist's Code,
or the Warrior's Way.
It is an attitude of
egolessness and
service.

When you get
in the zone, don't
second guess it. Your
ideas are smarter
than you are.

A natural principle
of organization channels
through you, even if you
cannot initially comprehend
its larger implications.
Connections
are made.

Dedication and
concentration put
us in touch with our
natural talent.
Our genius.

The Romans
used the Latin
word genius to
mean an inner
spirit...

...Which
guides us to
our calling.

The War of Art, V

From David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy. (Read Parts I, II, III, and IV). Here the conversation between Kabuki and her mentor ends, and she acts on what she's learned. That quote from Ghandi is just... the most universally applicable truism I can think of.

Part V of VI:

I turn Pro.

You imagine what you want to be
and you act as if you are that.
Ghandi said, "Be the change you
want to see in the world".
If I want to create, I must
treat it with the respect and
dedication that a pro would.
Do it every day the best I can.
I don't know if it is any good
or not right now. I don't
have perspective for that
at this time.
All I know is that for
this day, I have overcome
the worst parts of me.
I have overcome
resistance.

Now I understand
The War of Art.

The War of Art, IV

From David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy. (Read Parts I, II, and III).

When I first read this, I thought I knew what it meant to "consider yourself a pro." I thought it meant that I needed to have the self-discipline to just write, even when I didn't feel like it.

While that's true, I've learned going pro is even more than that. Ever since I sent out my first queries, I've been doing tons of research into the publishing world, and I've been reading the blogs of other authors - especially SF/F authors. In a sense, I've been living in the world of the pros, and I've discovered that I want it.

I think that sudden, unexpected desire is part of why I've written more in the last two weeks than in any given month previously. That desire is what has helped me go pro, at least for now.

Part IV of VI:

The pro knows that if you do the work, the muse will show up. You don't wait for the muse to show up first.

"Someone asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. "I write only when inspiration strikes," he replied. "fortunately it strikes every morning at 9:00 sharp."

That's a pro.

There is a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing that is hard. What's hard is sitting down to write".

Read part V.

The War of Art, III

From David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy. In parts I and II, Kabuki is expressing her thoughts to a friend. In this part and the next, the friend responds. The War of Art, mentioned here, is an actual book that I nearly bought once, but I think everything I want to get out of it is already in these excerpts from Kabuki.

The Art of War is also a real book. My brother and I used to read it as kids. I think everybody should read it, even if you only use it to excel at Settlers.

Part III of VI:

Have you read The War of Art?

You mean The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

No. The War of Art by a writer named Pressfield. It names that force that distracts you from your calling, "Resistance".

"Most of us have 2 lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between the 2 stands resistance".

Pressfield explains that the only way to combat resistance of something you must do is to put in the time & due diligence daily. Consider yourself a pro beforehand.

Read part IV.

The War of Art, II

From David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy. (Read Part I).

Part II of VI:

I come to realize that writing is
like physical exercise. What counts
is how much you can do after you
think you are done.
Then the real challenge begins.
If you push through the barriers
of your comfort zone, you hit
a second wind.

It is mostly just showing up
and doing it that counts.

Sometimes it is painful.
You may want to do something else.
And you can think of infinite
reasons to stop.

I discover "The Power
of Positive Doing".
Positive thinking is great.
It is a nice first step.
But if you don't do the
"Positive Doing",
it only takes you so far.

Read part III.

The War of Art, I

A couple of years ago, my brother bought me issue #7 of David Mack's Kabuki: the Alchemy. Among other things, the main character deals with the struggles of writing. I identified with this part so strongly that I printed out excerpts of it and taped it to the walls around my desk. It keeps me going when I'd rather check my e-mail one more time or play Sudoku.

Part I of VI:

I realize that I am in a kind of war
with the worst parts of myself every
time I sit down to write.

Concentration vs. resistance.
An idea, a creative urge, and then a
reactive force that second guesses it.
What words are worthy to exist?

The problem isn't a search for ideas.
It is the struggle, the discipline,
to make myself do it.

I force myself to write it before
I second guess, censor, or edit it
out of existence even before it gets
to the page. I just start.
I decide that I can cut it and edit
it afterwards if I feel the urge to.
Second guess myself after
instead of before.

Read part II.