Do the Work

I have the What’s On Your Nightstand roundup to thank for discovering Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work. The book is a short (it took me two sittings to read), snappy (you can see excerpts at the Amazon page) book that focuses like a laser beam on how to overcome the enemy of writerly aspirations.

The enemy: Resistance. Resistance is not only the enemy of writers, but of anyone who seeks to improve or act on some important goal — whether it be a novel, a new startup, or “anything involving chiseled abs.”  The inscription reads, “On the field of the Self stand a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon.”

Though the book is not written from a Christian perspective, it meshes easily with mine as a reader. The idea of Resistance fits neatly into the Christian categories of a spiritual enemy and a sin nature that can thwart God’s calling. I was reminded of John Eldridge’s Waking the Dead (my review here), which points (almost too relentlessly) to the reality of spiritual warfare against an enemy of our souls who desires nothing better than to steal our “glory” — God’s unique gifting and calling. “Listen carefully,” Eldredge writes, “any movement toward freedom and life, any movement toward God or others, will be opposed. Marriage, friendship, beauty, rest — the thief wants it all.”

Steven Pressfield has a similar view that creative projects can be sabotaged by resistance. He has another book called The War of Art that I have, but I haven’t read it yet; its focus is broader, but similar. Do the Work has much to say about how to approach a creative project in a way that militates against drifting unawares into the grip of Resistance. His prose is direct, his illustrations are effective, and his walk through the steps we might expect between conception and execution (shipping, in the case of a writer’s project) is well-paced and useful. I read the first few chapters aloud recently on a road trip with my family, and it was a hit that led to some interesting discussions. For a concise and delightful exploration of the obstacles and joys of creativity, Do the Work is well worth reading.