I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish what I started. The closer I got, the more ways I'd find to screw it up.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the struggle of perseverance in creative endeavors, emphasizing the difficulty of overcoming self-doubt and setbacks.
In this quote, Steven Pressfield expresses the common challenge faced by writers and creatives: the desire to create but the difficulty in bringing a project to completion. He reflects on the self-sabotaging thoughts and distractions that arise as one nears the finish line, suggesting that the journey of creation is often fraught with internal conflicts that can prevent success if not addressed.
In practice
This quote can be used in a writing workshop to inspire aspiring authors facing their own challenges in finishing their stories.
Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
Itβs better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
I'm not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
In speaking to you men of the greatest city of the West, men of the state which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who preeminently and distinctly embody all that is most American in the American character, I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.
If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
When the path becomes difficult, that's no reason to give up. In fact, it means you're making real progress.
Be hungry for success, hungry to make your mark, hungry to be seen and to be heard and to have an effect. And as you move up and become successful, make sure also to be hungry for helping others.
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