Dan In Focus

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield ★★★★★

I have heard good things about The War of Art for many years. Several of my friends sing its praises. It had been on my list for a long time. Finally, after nearly a decade, the time was right. I needed to read it this week. Had I read it when I first heard of it, it may not have had the same impact on my life.

Steven Pressfield is the author of bestseller novels, including The Legend of Bagger Vance. He departs from his normal fiction to write this small book on winning the inner creative war. He discusses how he came to break from his “normal” career and embark on his journey to create novels. However, the book is much more than that story. It is how to break free and have the courage to create.

Pressfield begins by naming the force that keeps us from starting something creative – Resistance. It is the force that causes us to doubt and put off what we long to do. It feeds on fear and magnifies it to crippling heights. Resistance, in literary circles, can be known as writer’s block. In others, it is procrastination. It is most happy when we do things that are not creative. In short, often in one page mini-essays, he defines Resistance in detail so we can recognize it in our life.

In the second section of the book, Pressfield describes ways to combat Resistance. He calls this “turning professional.” He talks about the discipline of creating art. He details his habits in how he lives each day, structured and rigid so as to provide space for his muse to direct his writing. He discusses how the amateur will write when the feeling strikes. The professional treats it as a regular habit, beginning at the same time each day, much as the rest of us start our jobs. He describes the attributes of the professional, such as seeking order, demystifying process, acting in the face of fear and not taking failure and success personally. Again, the format is in short essays.

The final section is about going beyond Resistance, examining where art comes from. Pressfield admits he is a spiritual man, firmly believing in angels and muses. He believes God puts us on Earth to be creative, not drones. Therefore, to fulfill our destiny, we must learn to create, take off the blinders on our souls and invoke angels and muses to aid us.

I understand the concept of Resistance. It keeps me from writing here as often as I desire. I have many creative ideas circling inside my head, eager for space to land and take root. Resistance keeps me from letting these ideas out to the light. Doubts, fears, poor choices and other excuses have bottled me up for years. As I read this book, I found the naming and descriptions helped me relax and gain confidence in myself. I haven’t fully overcome Resistance yet, but I have been breaking down the walls I have built over the decades. It isn’t easy to overcome the habits I have built.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you have feelings of creativity that are being suppressed for whatever the reason. Pressfield kindly doesn’t condemn, but shows the way – the way to win the War of Art.