“Writing a new play shouldn’t be seen as a mystery but as a…” (Great Work quote)
Photo from Chris Fry at Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjfry/
“Writing a new play shouldn’t be seen as a mystery belonging to a priesthood, but as a challenge, a technical challenge, just to get into it … And I think it’s a very healthy attitude to take to writing anything. Just as a corrective – perhaps an overcorrective – to the opposite view, which I tend to flinch when confronted with: that it’s all rather deep and mysterious and special and precious. Sod that!”
~ Tom Stoppard, playwright.
I’m a big fan of Tom Stoppard‘s work, typically a brilliant combination of mind and heart, or ideas and passion, all with a wry humour.
Reading this interview with him, I came across this quote reflecting on what it takes to do what he does. It of course put me in mind of the wonderful Steven Pressfield and his The War of Art. Presfield’s point? When writing (or, let’s face it, when doing anything where we feel resistance and the tension that often accomplishes Great Work) we have a choice of how we show up: As an amateur or as a professional. The professional shows up everyday, rolls up her sleeves, and gets on with things regardless of whether the Muse has shown up or not.
Right now, I’m being a little amateur-ish about a couple of projects I have bubbling away. Time to get over myself I think.
One thing I’ve done, inspired by Gwen Bell, is to create a list of things I might be doing instead of faffing about checking email or playing on the internet. It includes writing the next book, creating my Great Work Badge series, enrolling some cool people in my Great Work Rebels program and… well, that alone should keep me away from email for a while.
If any of this is ringing bells, why not check out:
- My Great Work Interview with Steven Presssfield
- My Great Work Interview with Gwen Bell
- Seth’s recent post on the challenge of managing media.
- “The one predominant duty is to…” (Great Work quote)
- “Tyranny cannot defeat the power of…” (Great Work quote)
- “Doing a straight-forward, clear-cut task that has…” (Great Work quote)
- “Wanting it is easy, but trying to be great – well, that’s torturous” (Great Work quote)
- “Good is the enemy of Great” (Great Work quote)
You know what I love most about this post? How you said “faffing”
P.S. your latest post on focus, etc. is brilliant. I need to unplug more and I love the Gwen Bell idea – writing mine as we “speak”