Los Angeles Acting blog by David August: The Beauty of Doing It Now

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Beauty of Doing It Now

There is something wonderful about not delaying something creative. Before I'd written the rough draft of an action-adventure pilot script I'm working on, I found myself at a warehouse store, knowing I needed to just sit down and write it. I shopped telling myself I would do it that day.

Then, as I finished my purchases, I realized: there is no time like the present. I pulled the cart next to a table in their food court, surrounded by hungry shoppers eating, put my phone's headphones in my ears, put the music I am thinking of as the theme music on repeat, and wrote the entire first draft. There. On my phone's note pad app. I'd only written the rudiments of 2 scenes before then. And I only left after the whole rough draft existed on my phone. I emailed it to myself, to make sure it didn't go away if my phone got silly, and then went to my car and drove home.

The beauty of doing it now, is it becomes real, not just an idea. Whether it is writing, or preparing a role, learning lines, or anything, what ever it is, do it now.

If you find yourself encountering resistance to doing what you want to do, there are ways to get through that. To help fight the resistance to doing anything that moves you closer to being your best self, and reaching your potential, I suggest reading Steven Pressfield's book The War of Art. It is a good read, and applying some of its suggestions, and doing what needs doing, can be invaluable.