The War of Art

Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield
20030411

About This Book

What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor – be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?

The War of Art identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.

The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think of it as though love… for yourself.

Resistance – Defining the Enemy

• Resistance is invisible.
• Resistance is internal.
• Resistance is insidious.
• Resistance is implacable.
• Resistance is impersonal.
• Resistance is infallible.
• Resistance is universal.
• Resistance never sleeps.
• Resistance plays for keeps.
• Resistance is fueled by fear.
• Resistance only opposes in one direction.
• Resistance is most powerful at the finish line.
• Resistance recruits allies.
• Resistance and Procrastination
• Resistance and Sex
• Resistance and Trouble
• Resistance and Self-Dramatization
• Resistance and Self-Medication
• Resistance and Victimhood
• Resistance and the Choice of a Mate
• Resistance and Unhappiness
• Resistance and Fundamentalism
• Resistance and Criticism
• Resistance and Self-Doubt
• Resistance and Fear
• Resistance and Love
• Resistance and Being a Star
• Resistance and Isolation
• Resistance and Healing
• Resistance and Support
• Resistance and Rationalization
• Resistance can be beaten.

Combating Resistance – Turning Pro

The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps.
To amateur, the game is his avocation. To the pro, it’s his vocation.
The amateur plays part-time, the professional full-time.
The amateur is a weekend warrior. The professional is there seven days a week.

Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes.”, he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

Beyond Resistance – The Higher Realm

Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action.

Do it or don’t do it.

It may help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.

You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God.

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.