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The War of Art is not some type of bullshit magic pill you swallow to make yourself feel better. It’s also not a scheme that’s designed to make you more money.
But it is a reality check.
What the book does best is identify and then targets the enemy to all artistic pursuits – resistance. It makes you look the enemy – yourself – square in the eye.
Because resistance is a motherfucker. It is a pain in the ass that has stolen many years of a person’s life.
Resistance is a faceless enemy that morphs into many forms like alcohol, YouTube, Netflix, and even sex, but worst of all, it’s powered by you. As Pressfield identifies throughout the book – it is the greatest preventer of creativity, but one that can be defeated.
“If Resistance couldn’t be beaten, there would be no Fifth Symphony, no Romeo and Juliet, no Golden Gate Bridge. Defeating Resistance is like giving birth. It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and without, for fifty million years.”
Steven Pressfield
What makes this book great is that it doesn’t waffle. The War of Art is both direct and concise with the majority of pages in Book One and Two being made only a couple of paragraphs per-page. Even better is Pressfield’s ability to create colour with his words without the use of characters.
“Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”
Steven Pressfield
Thank God Pressfield opted for this approach rather than relying on fictional characters that are on some bullshit journey to enlightenment to tell the story.
The best part of it all is that it is honest. Persistence is the way forward. That means if you’re a writer, you must be prepared to bleed at the typewriter. Start at 9 am every day, become a pro, and as Pressfield proclaims, only then will the angels appear to guide you along your artistic journey.
