Attack the Resistance!

One night back in the summer, while playing basketball with the boys under our street light, I had an idea for a short story that I thought they would enjoy.

Over the next several days I thought about the plot and how to best start and end the story. I started writing it at nights, a few hundred words at a time, after putting them to bed.

I got about half-way through and stalled. I just couldn’t make myself keep working on it, even though I thought it was a fun little story to tell and wanted to finish it.

I let creative resistance kick my butt.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. I never forgot about it. In fact, every time I sat down to a writing session I always remembered that I had a half-written story sitting on my hard drive.

The longer it sat there unfinished, the more I felt like I was compromising my integrity. The guilt was sapping me of my energy for other writing projects. I started to doubt myself and whether I have what it takes to be a writer.

Monday was Halloween and when I sat down at my computer to write, I remembered my half-told story. It’s a bit of a spooky tale and I thought about how it would have been perfect to read to the boys on Halloween night—if only I had finished it. (Cue mental self-flagellation.)

At that moment, something clicked and I knew what I had to do. I was going to finish the story that day, quickly edit it that night, and get it in decent enough shape to read to them before bedtime.

And that’s exactly what I did.

It felt great to finish it. Fantastic actually. I felt a jolt of energy surge through me as soon as I read the last line and said, “The end.”

The boys loved it, just like I thought they would. Not because it’s a great story, but because it’s the first time anyone has every written a story especially for them.

It still needs lots of editing and reworking before I  share it with anyone else.

None of that is the point of the post.

The point is that if you let resistance get a foothold in your life, even on a “fun” project, it will spread like gangrene and wreak havoc on your creative energy.

If you are serious about creating great content and doing good work, you cannot afford to let resistance keep you from finishing even the smallest of projects.

Is there something important you’ve been meaning to do but keep putting off?

Is there an unfinished project in your garage that makes you feel guilty every time you park your car?

Are you halfway through a story that will never be told if you don’t sit down and do the work?

Then today is the day to take back your creative territory.

Attack the resistance!