How to Beat Creative Resistance—Part I

Hiatus is over. Back to work!

Are you trying to improve your skills in some area? Have you spent YEARS doing this? I've spent TWENTY years (!) trying to improve my drawing and learn artistic anatomy.

I haven't succeeded because I'm stuck in this crazy, illogical catch-22: my skills are poor because I don't practice them enough BUT I don't practice my skills enough because the results are poor. Crazy, right?

This situation is what author/screenwriter Steven Pressfield calls the "Resistance" in his insightful book The War of Art.

Man vs. Art host Raul Aguirre, Jr. recommended this book in one of his podcasts and it's one of the best I've read about the struggle of creativity. Professional visualizer Sunni Brown even made a helpful visual summary of the book which I also recommend you check out.

Art courtesy of sunnibrown.com

I'm confident that this book will help you get past the Resistance. The first step is to recognize it. Actually, embrace it! The more you try to ignore it, the more it will win.

The second step is to accept that being a creative person is a lifelong struggle against the Resistance.

A LIFELONG STRUGGLE!

Remind yourself that every creative person experiences Resistance on a daily basis.

That's EVERY SINGLE DAY!

The trick is to be one of the strong ones who doesn't give in but fights past it and creates ANYWAY.

Next post I'll show specific steps on how to improve your drawing!