Don’t WIP It
I’ll get notes sometimes from young writers, in which they’ll refer to their “WIP,” i.e. their work-in-progress.
My blood runs cold when I see that phrase.
It’s bad juju. It plants in the subconscious the notion that the book or movie we’re working on is “in progress.” In other words, it’s not finished. The implication (which the subconscious reads as reality) is it will ALWAYS be “in progress.”
My own bete noire for years was being unable to finish something. So I’m particularly sensitive to any nuance of self-brainwashing that plants that dastardly idea.
Here’s what I do instead.
I think of the project as already done. Even if I haven’t started yet. If you say to me, “C’mon, Steve, you haven’t even opened a new file!”, my response would be, “Yeah, true … I haven’t completed the formality of putting words on paper. But that’s just a matter of time and effort. The book is done.”
Do you remember the series of episodes on “Seinfeld” when Kramer was moving to Los Angeles?
Kramer, the ultimate New Yorker, was packing his stuff, getting set to make this previously-unthinkable move. I can’t remember if it was George (or possibly Newman) who put it to him, “Come on, Kramer, are you REALLY moving to L.A.?”
Kramer, if you recall, set his forefinger against his temple. “Up here,” he said, “I’m already gone.”
That should be our mindset. “Up here, I’m already done.”
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
I love this. The whole idea of the book is in our heads. We just have to get it onto paper.
Bete noir. Alienation is tolerating what’s destructive to our soul. Resistance is the monolith of all malignancies to our souls. Resistance lives to stop us from finishing things. Resistance causes paralyzing alienation. We transform into optimum humans when we decide to finish our tasks, at all costs!
True, Steve. Thanks.
The idea is whole and complete,no parts … finished . The fields are already white with harvest.
Thank you so much dear Steve.
You let me know RichRoll interviews a couple of years ago, I don’t have the time to watch all those important figures (what I loose…), but yesterday I saw to my surprise my teenager year’s icon, Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden (actually the group was the icon, he was the frontman, but I think I was jealous of him and wanted his force, but admired the deepest the head of the band, Steve Harris, who would always stay in the shadows of the live stage) in a great review with him. I watched about the first 30 mins up to now. The interviewer wants to find the cause of Bruce’s seemingly unbreakable confidence from the first moment. Bruce says that (1) it’s not something metaphysical or so (I read that between the lines), but (2) he says he just *knew* that he was the man for Iron Maiden etc. It’s what I read here from you, to be there already. With my book, I have lost this feeling, although thankfully not my deep connection to it, but it won’t cost a dime to bring it back (I think it was there in the beginnings). It may be a strong trick of the frontmen, a light of Gods in terms of determination.
Thank you so much.
Old friends of music, or rather of rebellions, check it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvHb7q5UXYI&t=1989s
Unbelievable. Hitting the spot. Thank You. Great lesson. (Presented in a clear, deep, resolute, fun way.)
I’ve introduced many of your masterpieces to my friends. I always give them “The War of Art,” first. It spoke to me as an aspiring artist and I bring it up as much as… well, as much as they and everyone else needs to hear it. Then one morning as I woke up in my photography studio in Miami with my brother he comes with his phone to me and shows me he responded to his comment. I don’t know if he was showing off or testing me, but both worked damn it. You have become a major part of my life and through me many many others so I would just like to tell you job well done. If the world isn’t telling you, which I’m sure they are, hear it this morning from me.. job well done.
This post on this day gave me hope. I am a visual artist, a painter, and I have hundreds of #wip – most were completed paintings at one time but I no longer like, and ya … what the hell am I doing storing 100s of paintings?! I sell a few but geesh. Time to declare all of them done ✅ whether I like them or not. So that the universe – sales gallery – is open for business. Thanks!
Excellent post. What’s even worse than having a WIP, is have multiple WIPs, all in a state of pending completion. . .someday. Another wake-up call from Steven. Thanks!
spot on, it all begins and ends ‘inside’ our scull, no less, no more.
Thank you Steven for sharing the most intimate of fears and dreams with us. The road to creation will always remain a mystery.
Much needed post today. I’m meeting with the illustrator for my middle -grade children’s book. Not only do I fight with resistance, but also I’ve brought someone along for the ride.(Her first large project.) What am I thinking? My illustrator called the other day and asked if one can get artist’s block. I related at some point about writer’s block. So there, I put the thoughts in her head. I was able to pass on some acquired wisdom, though. The greater the resistance, the greater the importance of the project. In my head, we’re already published. This project scares me silly. I have such faith in this book and our collaboration. And the thanks goes to the wisdom and support I find here. Much appreciated,Steve.
You’re right about the risk of “WIP” becoming a mindset that traps us in perpetual drafting. But maybe working on multiple projects incrementally is just another individual approach, like a whimsical clothesline of understanding, each piece waving until it’s ready to be taken down. Not every path needs the “just do it” heroism—sometimes, it’s about letting things unfurl in their own time.
I love this! I’m a holistic physical therapist and often at the end of my sessions with a patient, I will ask them to close their eyes and picture themselves doing something that they can’t do to right now because of their pain or dysfunction. I will say something like “see yourself doing X without pain, with joy, with vibrance, with a smile on your face. You don’t need to know how you will get there, but consider it done!” I’ve adapted this visualization from my mentor John F. Barnes. I explain to my patients that the more they can see this in their minds eye, and feel it in their body, the subconscious will start to believe it!!
No arguing w/ Krame.
WIP has long been a part of my vernacular and after many years I now know how to make the switch from in progress to finished. I go from WIP to RIP and say goodbye to my literal companion who now lies in state on paper and go in search of another.
In regard to Iron Maiden ( Tolis,) U2 famously got together in High School just to “be a Band”. Not to be famous or write hits, just for the unity of “Bandness”. The songs came later, by accident of jamming, by current political views.
The primary objective was to be a Band. From that objective, sharing responsibilities and equal sharing of proceeds sprang. To reunite after a dissention, with compromise created a long-running career for all; but it was the Primary Objective of BAND that has sustained, and created fans and from fans, momentum.
For me, my Primary Objective is just to write songs. My interest in history, emotion, sociology, writing skills and the construction of melody, backing tracks and the underlying technology spring from that one point. When asked what I do: I write songs. Many currently go unheard, but they’re still just what I identify with: SONGWRITER🤹
Thank you for your thoughts and experience Muriel! Yes, it’s like gravity: a core must be there in order for things to happen, most possibly by chance. Who knows how much of an accident was the come-together of the Iron Maiden too: Dickinson living on the same land, speaking the same language, having followed similar paths (he says that when they first got together, they found out they had very parallel interests or perceptions). But it was the Band. It is the Book perhaps for me, or something quite close to that. The Songs for you. A core that has by nature magnetic ability. Ah, Steve would say there’s even a basis for the core, it’s that chair.
Absolutely love it! I already wrote my book in my head just need to get it on paper! Genius!
I was so relaxed during a procedure at the dermatologist’s many years ago I fell asleep and started snoring. I was mortified when I woke myself up that way, but the doctor came to the rescue with a word substitution. “You weren’t snoring,” he said. “You were purring.” Can you imagine how much I loved hearing that?
I was so distracted by a great conversation on the talk show recently I forgot to watch the clock and made a lot of other mistakes; the insights were coming that quickly and I was tripping over myself. My producer could’ve said something like, “Yeah. That sucked.” Instead he told me it was a little wobbly. Wobbly! That sounded cute.
Words have weight, as a friend once told me. And now, thanks to this post, I have so many revisions to not only file folder labels but their contents. Wouldn’t have guessed “in progress” was bad juju, not in a million. And it will be so interesting to see what happens when I adjust that lens.
Thank you, Steve!
How did you deal with the sense of regret when finishing something that it’s not quite as good as you could make it but you also just want to get it out there? What if you’re not satisfied? Get it out there anyway and work on the next thing?
Sam, nothing EVER feels as good as we imagined (or hoped) we could make it. That’s just reality. Even Francis Ford Coppola wasn’t happy with “The Godfather.” But when it’s done, it’s done. “Ship it!” as Seth Godin would say … and on to the next!
Hi Steve, thanks for that. I needed to hear that right now. Ship it!
It always starts and ends in my head, it is written in my head before any words get written;
reminds me of what Einstein said. If you give me a problem and i hour to solve it, i’ll think for 55 minutes and solve it in 5. Visible activity does not a project make.
This is profound, as I had always considered projects a WIP. The present project is complete in my mind, but most, which end up paused/shelved, aren’t yet complete in my mind. Riffing aloud, perhaps that’s the problem, I should get them straight in my mind first, at least to the point of making sense. Then ad lib the skeleton, then flesh that out into a draft.
Peter
You nailed it again. You continue to every week give us gems.
Thank you for your dedication to helping others.
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This reminds me of the Book of Revelations: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
On some level, it is complete. We just need to accept our completeness. This is the work, which is really about getting out of our own egocentric way.
The notion of a ‘work-in-progress’ can inadvertently lead to a never-ending cycle of creation. Pressfield’s approach to envision the work as finished from the start is both counterintuitive and brilliant. It’s a mental leap that can defeat procrastination.
Pressfield’s advice to consider a project complete before even starting resonates deeply. It’s a testament to the power of mindset in overcoming the resistance that often plagues the creative process
Good explain and clarity thank you.
Good explain of clarity thank you.
haha! Thanks for the explanation thankyou!