Two Types of Self-Reinforcement
The first kind of self-reinforcement is objective.
This is when we sit down quietly with a cup of tea and explain to ourselves that our lizard-brain fears are not rational.
Our husband will not abandon us if we begin writing poetry. The process of self-publishing is not beyond our intellectual capacity. The comet will not strike Brooklyn obliterating our apartment (and if it does, we’ve got insurance.)
Rationality, however, can only carry us so far.
My book Gates of Fire has sold over a million copies and is still going strong. Yet when I began it—and all through the writing—I had zero confidence in its commercial prospects. I had no deal in place, no editor, no publisher. I had never attempted a work even remotely like it (it was only my second book) nor were there any books like it on the market.
How did I self-reinforce in this case? I told myself,
All those negatives may be absolutely true. I don’t care. I know this idea is miles out of the mainstream. I know it’s a hundred-to-one shot to find a publisher. I don’t care. I LOVE this story. I believe in it. I’m going forward and even if nobody buys it but my mother and my cat, I don’t care.
This second type of self-reinforcement is not as irrational as it sounds. Because what was really going on with Gates of Fire was that, on the level of the zeitgeist it did make sense. There was an audience, even if I—and conventional thinking—couldn’t see it.
Self-belief is a crazy thing. It can come from an appreciation of reality-as-it-exists (in which case objective self-reinforcement is the answer to our fears). Or it can come from reality-as-it-will-exist, even if we ourselves can’t yet perceive it.
Sometimes you have to be a little crazy to believe in yourself and your dream.
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?"
