The War of Art -Steven Pressfield

"Only you can do your work. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

This book is for you if you:

• Have ever felt that creative spark
• Are interested in the creative process
• Have ever experienced writer's block
• Need some motivation to do work

The War of Art is geared toward writers. Steven Pressfield is an excellent author that has composed fantastic novels such as: The Gates of Fire and Tides of War. He is exceedingly knowledgeable in the area of Spartan society, which is what turned me on to him in the first place. After reading Gates of Fire, I stumbled onto this wonderful little book that could almost pass for a pamphlet. Although writing is the focus of the book, the process that is put forth is easily applicable across most facets of life that have to do with just getting something done. 

Overview

The book is separated into three sections:

1. Resistance
2. Combating Resistance
3. Beyond Resistance

1. This section is dedicated to outlining this idea that Pressfield has deemed "Resistance." There is no better way to explain this idea than use a quote straight from the author himself:

"Resistance is that thing that keeps us from being the person we are meant to be; the thing that stands between the person we dream of being and the person that we really are."

Resistance is this ethereal idea that there is a force of nature, not unlike gravity, that keeps you from fulfilling your true potential and accomplishing those things that you want to accomplish. It is the thing that makes you want to watch ESPN instead of writing that article that you wanted to get done or forget yourself in Facebook in the time that would be better used by studying.

This is a very important concept to grasp because it allows you to begin spotting when Resistance is trying to affect you. Upon completing this section of the book, you are well prepared to identify when the Resistance is rising and learn to quickly squash it and accomplish your goals. Understanding this concept is essential to moving forward in the book.

2. Combating Resistance is the action step of the sequence. Pressfield defines the skill of suppressing the Resistance as "turning pro." With that, here is a quote that embodies the section:

"There's no mystery to turning pro. It's a decision brought on by an act of will. We make up our mind to view ourselves as pros and we do it. Simple as that."

This is the most difficult part of the process. This is no surprise, for any intelligent person can formulate an idea. It is putting that idea into action that separates the great men from the ordinary men. The ironic thing is that it is the most straight-forward and simple parts to do because all you have to do is just that, do it. Build some character and force yourself, through pure will, to just do what you know is necessary. For us writers, it is sitting down in front of the keyboard or taking the journal out to a park and putting pen to paper. The magic is in the doing, simple as that. 

Decide today that you are going to put in the work. Everything that you desire will follow that, guaranteed. 

3. In the final section of the book, Pressfield attempts to search and identify the deeper reason that this Resistance and the forces that oppose it exists. He believes that all creativity comes from the Muse. This is the section that I consider superfluous. To attest to this belief, here is a quote straight from the author's pen: 

"Before I sit down to work, I'll take a minute and show respect to this unseen Power who can make or break me."

I am not entirely convinced of the Muse existing. However, there is absolutely some kind of overlying consciousness that all of us humans just tap into. Call it the Muse, or Gaia, or God, that is up to you. Albert Einstein subscribed to the latter:

"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."

By orderly harmony of things, Einstein is referring to the thing that makes everything fall in place like it has. The thing that has shaped this Universe in the manner that it has been shaped. That same Shaper is what we humans tap into when we strive to do something creative. The glimpse of creativity provides just a small portion of that greater consciousness. I know it sounds hippie, but its just plain true. 

Here is a great short interview outlining why Pressfield wrote this book!

It took me roughly two hours to blow through this book, so it is easy for me to say that the knowledge gained is well worth the time. I gained some great information, but some even greater motivation. Once I realized that all that needed to be done to work toward my dream is just sit down and write, things became exponentially clearer and easier. 

To close, a concise and well aimed quote should do the trick: 

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic , and power in it. Begin it now." -Goethe