Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t Summary
5 min read ⌚
Why That Is And What You Can Do About It
Is your dream to be a writer?
Well, guess what: so is mine.
And, if you do not know already, we share this dream with millions of other people all around the world.
However, your dream remains just a dream, since it seems that “Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t.” And so does mine.
So, what can we do? Are we doomed?
Don’t worry; this is all about to change.
Who Should Read “Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t” and Why?
Do you want to be a writer?
You know, writing is much more than just finishing your manuscript.
“Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t” explains all variables in a great story, whether it is a story told in a book, a screenplay or an advertisement.
We recommend it to all aspiring writers who finally want to get their big break.
About Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield is a bestselling writer of both fiction and nonfiction.
He has worked both in advertising and screenwriting and is the owner of his popular writing advice blog stevenpressfield.com.
“Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t Summary”
The writing world is hard to penetrate to.
Let’s say you just finished your novel. You have spent hours and hours “bleeding” words onto the paper, and you finally saw your creation done.
You are probably excited – for the fun starts now! You cannot wait to see how people will react. What will they say? Will they love it? Will they hate it?
Stop.
Stop asking those questions.
Chances are, you will never get the answer since nobody wants to read what you have written.
People avoid commercials, unknown books, and unknown writers.
But, your writing group thinks you are brilliant!
No one cares. Those people there are forced to read your writing. The real audience, however, has many other things they would prefer doing.
Does this mean that you are doomed? That you have wasted your time dreaming of becoming an author?
No, don’t worry, not all hopes are lost. The only thing that this means is that your writing needs to be exceptional.
And, by exceptional or if you prefer “good”, we do not mean that you can write clever, and nice sounding sentences.
Good writing is the one that will hold your reader’s attention and make him or her thirsty for more.
Good writing is easy to understand. And most significantly of all, it is never boring.
Thankfully, you can easily avoid being boring by making your work scary, tragic or suspenseful.
And let’s not forget the other thing that you absolutely have to do: get out of your own head.
Yes, we know that you have been taught to write what you know, but you need to stop rumbling about the things you find fascinating and start focusing on your audience.
You have to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and work hard before you get any recognition whatsoever.
And the best way to learn the craft is to become someone’s apprentice.
Also, read stories like those which you want to write, and try to develop your unique voice and style.
If you are using too many phony phrases, pretend you are writing a letter to a friend or your family, since when we write to people, we know we sound more like ourselves.
In the end, you have to tell a great story.
And to be able to tell a great story – you need a great concept. The concept revolves around the problem your protagonist faces and how he resolves it.
After you think of the concept, think about a theme you would like to convey: is your story a story of envy, survival, or revenge?
Or is it about something else?
You will notice that in most movies and books, the structure is the same. Usually, it is a three-act structure which has remained the same ever since the ancient times.
First you introduce the problem and create interest, then you show the protagonist’s fight with the problem, and present many other conflicts, and finally, you finish with a resolution.
These three acts need to be balanced – give them enough time to develop.
Also, develop your characters. No story will be good enough without three dimensional, deep and developed characters.
Make them memorable so that readers can connect with them.
Lastly, be patient. Writing is just like any other skill – you have to keep at it in order to develop it.
Read a lot and write a lot. Accept critiques and revise.
Do it again.
And one day, your authorial voice will be heard.
Key Lessons from “Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t”
1. Start with a Concept
2. Become a Problem Solver
3. Follow the Three-Act Structure
Start with a Concept
Without a concept, your story is nothing.
Do not start without a direction. Those who wander in writing – are lost.
Become a Problem Solver
Writers are problem solvers.
Writer’s blocks do not exist!
If you hit a wall, just think hard about the problem that creates the situation, how that problem can be further complicated, and finally how it can be solved.
Follow the Three-Act Structure
No matter the genre, most stories follow the three-act structure.
It has to be something that works since it has survived since ancient times to today!
So, stop trying to be clever, and do like the grand masters do: tell a story in three acts.
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“Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t” Quotes
When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy. You acquire the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of… Click To Tweet You learn to ask yourself with every sentence and every phrase: Is this interesting? Is it fun or challenging or inventive? Am I giving the reader enough? Is she bored? Is she following where I want to lead her? Click To Tweet At the beginning, the author's writing was like a selfie: a disposable plea for attention that was all about him and his life. But since he hadn't done much living, there wasn't much substance. Click To Tweet All of a sudden I understood why I was so moody, neurotic, simultaneously paranoid and megalomaniac, mistrustful, uneasy, driven by ambition but paralyzed by guilt about my ambition, horny, obsessive, compulsive, obsessive-compulsive, not… Click To Tweet My role-options in life and career, I realized, were not limited to Businessman, Athlete, and Boneheaded Patriot. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
If you are serious about your writing career, you absolutely must get this book!
In it you will find all the core concepts of telling a story.
If you have already read extensively on the subject, you may not find anything new, but still, it is good to be reminded of the things that matter from time to time.
You can never know at what point something will resonate with you.
