Writing Wednesdays
Paul’s All Is Lost Moment
By Steven Pressfield
Published: February 8, 2012
My friend Paul is writing a pilot. He’s never done a piece of writing this serious before. The work is totally on spec.
Paul's All Is Lost Moment was a lot like Rocky's
Paul has a full-time business and has to do his writing at odd hours. A couple of weeks ago he had a crisis that made him almost suicidal. When I describe it to you, you’ll say, “Man, have I been there!”
A script for a TV pilot is about fifty-five pages long. Paul was on Page 52. He went home after work, sat down at his laptop and opened up the script to (blank) page 53. But first he decided, just for fun, to skim over pages 1 to 52.
By the time he was done, he was in despair. I saw him the next morning.
“What a blistering, unconscionable piece of crap! Who am I kidding giving birth to this abortion, or even deluding myself that I am, or might someday become, a writer? This worthless, steaming turd that I’ve been busting my ass over for … “
Paul was distraught. Inconsolable. I had to walk him home just to make sure he didn’t do something desperate.
Seventy-two hours later, I saw Paul again.
“I’m on page 62,” he said. His aspect and demeanor had totally changed. He was a new man. “I finished the f*@ker,” he said.
“And did the pages miraculously get better when you looked at them again?”
“Hey, I know I’m an idiot … “
We started talking about the scene in the first Rocky, where Sylvester Stallone, on the night before the big fight, gets up out of bed and goes down, alone, to the arena. He sees the giant billboards with pictures of the champ, Apollo Creed—and one huge placard with his own image. His face falls. His shoulders slump. The promoter is the only person in the auditorium. “What are you doing here, Rocky? Go home and get some sleep.”
More >>
Posted in Writing Wednesdays
29 Comments
SUBSCRIBE to "Writing Wednesdays."
Good to Great
by Collins, Jim
The second-favorite book (after Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations) of Marine general Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis, who led Marines in Afghanistan and commanded the First Marine Division in Iraq. Brilliant, no-nonsense insights into how organizations succeed . . . and fail.
Genius Network Series, The
by Polish, Joe
Joe is a marketing guru out of Tempe, AZ, who has put together a series of CD interviews with entrepreneurs, authors, coaches, marketers and interesting people of all stripes. (Fair disclosure: he interviewed me.) My pick: any interview with “strategic coach” Dan Sullivan.
Mystery of Making It
by White, Jack
Jack White was the first state artist of Texas. But his book isn’t about art, it’s about the business of art. (He has two others, on selling art and on self-promotion). You have to download these for twenty-odd bucks from www.senkarikstuff.com. they’re not available in hard copy. Terrific stuff, well worth the paper and toner.
