About book The War Of Art: Break Through The Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles (2003)
Holden Caulfield would love this, as would Ernest Hemingway. HC had it in for the phonies, and Pressfield has no use for them, either. Only he's met the enemy and it is himself. And you, gentle reader, need only a mirror to find your enemy. Pressfield calls it "Resistance," and it lurks in all of us. What's more, it's every excuse you can possibly think of to delay doing what the Muse put you on this earth to do: procrastination, rationalizations, physical sicknesses, psychological conditions with funny letters, family, drama, Twitter, Facebook, busywork, alcohol, drugs, television, your cellphone, fatigue, hopelessness, etc.Hemingway? Oh, yeah. To make it more personal for those who would write, EH called out the faux writers who wanted to be seen "writing" at the cafés of Paris in the 1920's. It was the Lost Generation's version of "I'm not a writer, but I play one in cafés." Pressfield, a writer as well, often alludes to the trade in The War of Art. Too often, writing is something phonies talk of doing and dream of doing but just don't do, or do sporadically, or make excuses as to why they can't do it, or do and fail once or twice, then quit. "Amateurs," Pressfield calls them. The world is split between the "pros" who sit down, roll up their sleeves, and DO IT every day (and he does mean every day) and the "amateurs" who talk a good story while shopping at Excuses R Us.Of course, the same applies to most anything the Dreamy You dreams (or once dreamed) of doing. Should you be working out now? Dieting? Training for a marathon? Swimming? Writing? Painting? Volunteering? Reading classics? Starting your own business? You name it, you can do it, but you choose not to. That's right. It's a choice, and we make it easy on ourselves.This little manual falls in the dictionary under “quick read.” Esquire magazine calls it “a kick in the ass,” and I can’t argue with that description. Pressfield pulls no punches. He has little choice. The Pretenders are legion and their excuses like Orc armies -- seemingly endless.The book is divided in three. Part One is simply called “Resistance: Defining the Enemy” and leads off with a quote from the Dalai Lama: “The enemy is a very good teacher.” Pressfield identifies resistance in its every form. Trust me when I say you'll recognize yourself, perhaps multiple times over. As the book was penned in 2002, however, he neglects to mention more prevalent forms of "Resistance" that exist today. "I'll start my work, sure... but first, let me check my Twitter feed... or let me check updates on Facebook... or I have to check e-mail and reply to a few folks... or reading can wait because I need to TALK about reading on Goodreads (which, ironically, cuts deeply into reading time, which is sacrificed on the altar of social time masquerading as reading time)." Hoo, boy. Maybe even reading The War of Art is a form of delaying what I should be doing -- writing. Then again, I'm writing this review. Is that writing? One voice (amateur) says yes, but another (pro) says no, it's slumming -- a shameless ploy for "likes" and comments, not me pursuing art or income as a freelance writer. Hmn. This is worse than I thought.Anyway, Part Two is called “Combating Resistance: Turning Pro” and leads with a Telamon of Arcadia quote: “It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.” Here's where Pressfield delineates the true pros who tolerate no excuses from “amateurs” who live by them. Page after page, he shares how a professional lives every day: "A Professional Is Patient," "A Professional Seeks Order," "A Professional Demystifies," "A Professional Acts in the Face of Fear," "A Professional Accepts No Excuses," "A Professional Plays It As It Lays," "A Professional Does Not Take Failure (or Success) Personally," "A Professional Endures Adversity," "A Professional Self-Validates," and on and professionally on. No wonder being a slacker and killing hours online is easier.Part Three? It’s called “Beyond Resistance: The Higher Realm” and its lead quote comes compliments of Xenophon: “The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thoughts, words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and to bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage.” It’s about achievement once you’re disciplined and have mentally accepted the challenge. Interestingly, Pressfield shares some quirky opinions about Muses, angels, William Blake, William Wordsworth, self vs. ego, and hierarchal thinking vs. territorial thinking. Hint: choose self over ego, territory over hierarchy. Then mean what you say and spit out your excuses binky.Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to write a book, poem, or screenplay; paint or dance or sing or act; start a business or charity; lose weight and exercise regularly until you look like you should look; run a marathon; fill-in-the-blank with your once-upon-a-time hope for yourself before Twitter and Facebook and e-mail and job and family and social drama and “health issues” and excuses dragged you down, this just might be your book. It's short, but worthy of rereading. I can imagine returning to certain excerpts for an old-fashioned butt-kicking, then getting back on that horse beside Nike ("Just Do It!") and working in "the smithy of my soul" like I ought to.I can also imagine unplugging, or at least creating more strict guidelines for bad habits that have snuck in to choke my creative being like so much hypnotic kudzu. Wait. Did I just say "imagine"? What an amateur pledge that was....
Reading this book is like fishing through a landfill site for diamonds; they're there, just buried under mountains of crap.The central thesis is that procrastination is often harmful to our long-term success, and of this point I have no disagreement. However the majority of the book is replete with superstition, thinly veiled proselytizing, bullshit facts, and other miscellaneous woo-woo including:* Hitler was an artist that started WWII because he was procrastinating, and, as a result of this, nobody has seen his paintings. (Seriously, Google his art. He sucked at being a decent human being but was a pretty good artist!)* Procrastination is the root of erectile dysfunction!* Terminal and non-terminal cancer patients go into remission because they achieve some goal that makes them happy. (This is a particularly egregious assertion!)* People that procrastinate develop tumors and mental illness.* If people overcame procrastination, prisons would magically empty, nobody would get cosmetic surgery or drink alcohol, pharmaceutical companies would collapse, hospitals would close, and all doctors would be out of a job! Dandruff would even cease to exist!* When you do something to better yourselves, other people may get sick. Indeed, you may allegedly get sick as a way to avoid bettering your life.* The author makes an unsubstantiated claim that diseases such as ADHD, seasonal affective disorder, and social anxiety disorder are not real and were invented by marketing departments and drug companies to make a quick buck.* 70-80% of people that go to the doctor aren't sick, but are just being dramatic.* Professionals should without question ignore any and all criticism because all criticism from others is an act of envy, rather than a tool to improve. (Oops!)* Some mystical bullshit was the driving force behind Hamlet, the Parthenon, and Nude Descending a Staircase, not actual people.This book is very absolutist and extremist, and fails to take into account the occasions an internal resistance to doing something is not true procrastination, but the cornerstone of good judgment and sometimes even self-preservation. The author even goes so far to say that taking care of your eight month pregnant wife is a form of procrastination! It's almost as if the author hasn't debated the ideas in this book with himself or others, but just started uncritically penning all his unfiltered thoughts into this book.This book earned its second star for being unintentionally funny in places and for the occasional nugget of crap-coated wisdom. If you read this book, find the wisdom (there's very little), clean it up, and make a note. Discard the rest. It's a short read especially as many of the pages are half, or even two thirds empty; just keep keep your critical thinking skills switched on.How this book got so many glowing reviews and recommendations is beyond me.
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aw. i like your books. the self-righteousness and sweeping unfounded statements in this book is obscuring any wisdom that may lie within it. he just says lots of things that are not true and promotes fear-based motivation and sets up an adversarial relationship with our own humanity.
—Daniel Pink
Are you an aspiring author? Or painter? Or entrepreneur? Do you want to save the world or promote piece? Maybe help get clean drinking water to people in third-world countries?I’m betting you do, and I’m also betting you’re not doing anything to pursue it. I’ve found a cure for that.You need to read “The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” by Steven Pressfield, who also wrote “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”This book rocked my world. I read a lot, and I don’t r
—Todd Vogts
I read this book over and over again as necessary. It is the kick in the ass every artist needs, sometimes daily. Because we all face the same enemy, fight the same battle every day: Resistance. According to Pressman, this is the whole story. Every day you either win or lose your battle with resistance. All the rest is talk. Why you lost it doesn't matter. Maybe your mother didn't love you enough. Maybe you don't believe in yourself enough. Maybe you think you're not as talented as you wish you were. Well, so what? No one's mother loved them enough, all of us suffer from self-doubt (If you don't, you're a sociopath and I don't want to know you), and even Shakespeare wrote about "Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope." If Shakespeare sometimes thought he wasn't good enough, I think that lets the rest of us off the hook. The only answer is to get up every day and do your work to the best of your ability. That's all anyone does. I just watched a snippet of a video interview with the painter Chuck Close who said you don't need most of what you learn in grad school ever again. You need only three things: to know where to find the information you need, to develop good work habits, and to acquire the thickest skin possible and be able to listen to and ignore the most painful criticism imaginable. You have to be able to defend your own position and criticize others as harshly as they criticize you. And then just go ahead and do your own work. Great book. I recommend this more than any other book I've ever read.
—Steve Turtell
