Steven Pressfield lays out the way a writer follows his or her calling. How you "tap your inner power and create your life's work".
The book is divided into three parts - The Amateur Life; Self Inflicted Wounds; and The Professional Mindset.
In the first part he talks about his life and journey as an 'amateur' - the part of his life where ego is involved and identity is tied to how others see you.
The second part focuses on all the ways the 'amateur' focuses on fear to keep himself addicted and not really working. Pressfield contrasts this to the way the Pro handles things. Yes, the fear is still there, but the Pro faces those fears head on instead of turning to other means to run from our true calling.
The last section highlights a Professional's mindset. I found this the most resourceful of all the sections.

Writers wanting to find their way. Writers who want to overcome the resistance the world throws at us, distracting us from really doing the work.

Each section is a bite size bit which is only a page or two long in length making it highly accessible. I don't like stopping in the middle of chapters, so this setup was great for me.

I find Pressfield has his own ideas of resistance and such. He talks of addictions - not necessarily those things we numb out on, but things like distractions, money, failure, trouble. His ideas are big and I often had to reread to find my place in his ideology.

Get to work. I like the his ideas that we are bigger than our ego. That getting out of our own way can help us connect to our larger 'self'... finding flow by just showing up and writing.

I have a clearer view of what a professional writer is and what I want to be.

His ideas are big, but they are in line with other writers I admire, like Julia Cameron.

It is a pint size reminder of what we want to achieve. It illustrates what an amateur is and what a profession is.

Try it out....I dare you.

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Created Jan 03, 2019 at 7:17pm • Submit your own review...