Writing Wednesdays
Opportunities are Bullshit, Part Two
By Steven Pressfield | Published: February 6, 2013
I’ve been feeling a little bad about the first Opportunities Are Bullshit post a few weeks ago. Particularly after Callie’s wonderful “Nella from France” follow-on.
As Butch once said, "Just as long as we break even ... "
My post was a bit of a rant, I confess. Ventilation of a pet peeve. I probably overstated the case. So lemme try again.
We all want our stuff to be seen. If we’re singers or actors or website designers, we want our work to find its hour in the sun. So we’re vulnerable to “opportunities.”
What is an “opportunity?” It’s what a producing entity–a website, a seminar, a movie or music producer, a publisher, a conference planner, a teacher with a class, a promoter with a webinar, a journalist with space or air to fill–offers to a creative entity, i.e. you and me.
Here’s the trade-off, as presented to us:
Give me your screenplay for free and I will put it before people who can finance its production.
Give me your pitch/concept/whatever for free and I will put it before my audience who might buy it.
Give me your presence/time/interview for free and I will put you in a place to gain exposure for yourself and your material.
What I’m trying to say is there are opportunities and there are “opportunities.”
Opportunities (without quotation marks) are for real. If we can hit a wide enough audience, find a sweet enough sweet spot, okay. If we can get to work with a friend and possibly help him or her too, then the trade-off is fair. It’s not BS.
But experience teaches: such opportunities are few and far between.
The person I was really ranting at was myself. I hate myself when I listen to that voice in my head that says, “But you need to network, you need to gain awareness. You have to make friends, you have to get out there.”
Yeah, it’s true. Of course it is. But as Frank Oz once said as he turned down one of these, “I’m not an easy lay. At least not that easy.”
From time to time I have gone on “publicity pushes.” I’ll say yes to everybody. I’ll get “out there” big-time.
It never works.
The needle never budges.
My mistake is picking “opportunities” instead of opportunities.
When Shawn and I started Black Irish Books, we sat down and asked ourselves, “How far do we want to try to take this thing?”
In about six seconds we both said, “Not that far.”
Why did we say this? Because we could already imagine the scenarios of “opportunities.”
Ugh.
We decided that the defining criterion for everything we did would be, “Is it fun?” As soon as something stopped being fun, we would stop doing it.
That means, of course, that we’re not gonna get rich.
That’s okay with us.
From time to time, we get offers to put ads on this blog.
No f*%king way.
There are other “opportunities.” I could take The War of Art on the road. I could pimp the hell out of it, and people would show up. People would pay money.
But then I would have to kill myself.
That’s not the business I’m in, and it’s not the business Shawn’s in. God bless everyone who is in it. They’re doing good and making the world go round. But, for me, sometimes even self-generated “opportunities” are bullshit.
I’m in this business (whatever “this business” means) to work on material that I find interesting and fun (and to not work on anything else), to work with people I like and respect (and to not work with anyone else), and to do it in a way that lets me feel comfortable and true to myself.
I recognize that such strictures do not equate to big bucks. That’s okay with me. I feel about this gig the way Butch Cassidy felt about robbing trains:
“Just as long as we break even … “
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You nailed it, Steve.
I wonder how many people are too indoctrinated by the winner-take-all system to hear this.
Bravo.
This post reminds me of a former colleague – a web guru back in the early days of the internet, back when we were all “building the plane while we were flying it.” The days were long, the pressure crazy, but the exhilaration of figuring out how to do what no one had done before was the fuel that kept us going…
And then, the managers stepped in… wanted the product faster, cheaper, better. We looked at each other and knew. The party was over. The web guru quit. Management offered him more and more money. He kept saying no. They just didn’t get it. He finally told them: “It just isn’t fun anymore.”
He was my hero then and I vowed to find a way to ensure my financial freedom, which took way longer than I liked. Now, I too am doing what I want. My novel is almost ready for the world and I look forward to setting it sail. Will I try to sell it? Oh, yeah. I have to honor these characters that came to me from the ether and let the world meet them. Pimp them out? Not on your life.
So many people thought I was nuts when I walked away from a high-paying career for the uncertainty of chasing a dream. Thanks Steve, for reminding me that I am not alone…I am indeed a member of a special tribe.
I hear it and I love it! Thank you!
Is it fun? seems to be the only question to consider!
“Is it fun?” should probably be taped to my computer monitor. Seems to me it’s a good question to ask, not only for life and career decisions (though perhaps it’s the most important question for these), but also for choosing how to proceed with a work-in-progress. Sorting out things like what to write about in the first place, or what obstacle to throw at our hero next. If it ain’t fun for the writer, it probably won’t wow the reader either.
I hope the blog never ceases to be fun. Thank you for sharing.
“I’m in this business (whatever “this business” means) to work on material that I find interesting and fun (and to not work on anything else), to work with people I like and respect (and to not work with anyone else), and to do it in a way that lets me feel comfortable and true to myself.”
Words worth quoting and living by. Love it. Thank you, Steve!
Good for you Steve and Shawn. Stick with your passion and don’t cash in at the cost of your soul. Do what you want to do and nothing else.
“But then I would have to kill myself.”
Oh do I relate. I pimped the hell out of a book of mine that came out a year or so ago, and although part of it was fun, a lot of it made me feel like I might as well roll over and die. You live and you learn. Thanks for this.
Steve, just brilliant. Thanks!