It can pay off, being a hack. Given the depraved state of American culture, a slick dude can make millions being a hack. But even if you succeed, you lose, because youโve sold out your Muse, and your Muse is you, the best part of yourself, where your finest and only true work comes from.
Steven PressfieldA great trick that I learned having worked as a screenwriter for many years, the way screenwriters work, is they break the project down into three-act structure: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3. I think that is a great way to break down any project, whether it's a new business or anything at all.
Steven PressfieldI believe in previous lives and the Museโand that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration whom we call artists.
Steven PressfieldArt is a war - between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work. The artist is a warrior.
Steven PressfieldThe problem I've always discovered in my own work when this kind of thing happens when you hit the wall is there's almost always a reason. You've almost always made a mistake in the initial conception of the project. You misapprehended something or you thought something would work and now you're three quarters on the way through and you see that it doesn't work.
Steven Pressfield