The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don't believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.
Steven PressfieldThe professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven.
Steven PressfieldA contemporary or near-future book is much harder because you can't fake the facts. There are people alive who know much more than you do about the subject. You have to really have your research together - and of course no one can know everything about a topic.
Steven PressfieldWhen you're a working writer, sooner or later friends and acquaintances will get you alone and confide that they, too, have a book in them.
Steven PressfieldOur enemy is not lack of preparation; itโs not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why we canโt/shouldnโt/wonโt do what we know we need to do.
Steven Pressfield