Book Review: War of Art

Read this book to start writing

This book isn’t for everyone. The brusque and seemingly vague writing can be off-putting. In fact, half of you won’t read beyond the first couple of pages. But for the other half, War of Art has the power to bring about a significant change to your habits.

The author, Steven Pressfield, breaks down the creative process by simply showing that it doesn’t exist. While written from the perspective of a writer, this book should be required reading for anyone even remotely in a creative field. Pressfield says that the only thing a writer needs to do, is take out the time and write. Every single day.

The book espouses the theory that quantity begets quality, and completely rips apart the notion that inspiration is necessary to create. He terms everything that comes between a writer and his daily writing habit as Resistance. The War here, refers to this daily battle a creator faces against this Resistance. Pressfield details the various forms it takes and how Resistance can be fought off.

For someone so prone to procrastination, this book was a much needed kick up my backside. War of Art means different things to different people — my guitarist friend ( who recommended the book to me) said this book significantly changed how he sees his music while a fellow writer said he reads this book each time he feels sad.