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?"
Thanks Steve. This will get me through another week.
I have a t-shirt that says- Ironing boards are surf boards that gave up on their dreams. Be a surf board.
I surely do not want to become a damn ironing board.
I’m going to read the book !!
No ironing boards !!
We move forward
Thank you very much dear Steve. I couldn’t hold a bit of tear coming out of the eye, even though it didn’t reach that far, but yet it was born by a pressure on the level of the head on the eyes, the nose and behind both.
Because I feel exactly the same.
You see now Cristopher Nolan publishing a beautiful film, Odyssey. And you know maybe, you may remember, how close to that is my creation. Actually, it is much more than that. And inside me I believe in it, but it’s just an orphan belief. It is alone, and it hugs itself so warmly my dear Steve. And it knows, it has seen it, that its hug may end up a dead corpse on the snow the other morning, like the Little Match Girl.
But I went for it. I found the way to write again. I write now the crescento. I would so much need to feel happy because mr. Nolan brings now an interest to the era, now that I reach the end, but I can’t. I just write lead by one orphan hug.
It’s that girl with the matches, only her, that keeps going. Strange, eh?
I’m indeed writing my Gates of Fire Steve.
My love to you, Diana, the team, the friends.
Gotta write with faith. Tell the story because it meeds to be told. Not because it appeals to X demographic.
Excellent message. Follow your gut. Simple. With gratitude to you Steven.
I know where the same lizard brain comes from, but it would be more appealing to hear caveman
Hey, thanks for hanging in there.
And that would be good advice for living a good life in general!
Steve,
Thank you once again for a timely post. They always come with the nourishment that I need and just at the right time.
This reminded me of a passage from Norman Maclean’s ‘A River Runs Through It’, when he describes the differences between where he and his brother, Paul, got their toughness. “I was tough by being the product of tough establishments – the United States Forest Service and logging camps. Paul was tough by thinking he was tougher than any establishment.” Norman got his validation externally, while Paul got his internally.
This also made me think of the passage in the Bible, John 20:20: Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (New Living Translation)
I recall reading that when Steve Jobs invented the iPhone, his team at Apple naturally planned to try out a prototype with some consumer test groups, for feedback. Standard industry practice But Jobs vetoed the idea. “Why bother?”, he said, “No one in the world yet knows they want an iPhone. We will show them that they do.”
Steve,
This is awesome! I’m going through the process of getting my first graphic novel out there and reading about your initial experience with Gates of Fire is very inspiring. Self-belief IS a crazy thing.
Thank you for sharing.
Loving these lately. Keep it coming and keep swinging Steve!
Nice one, Steve! So glad you followed your heart and we (your readers) benefited. For me, that’s the first rule for any artist–go with what YOU love.
Just what I needed to hear today. Sometimes, being practical doesn’t work.
So tell the truth: your cat didn’t buy it, did she?
Oh, the dog can’t talk…The Horse is a ventriloquist.
“Sometimes you have to be a little crazy to believe in yourself and your dream.”
This will help me keep going.
Thanks.