100 Books - The WAR of ART

One Hundred Books. This is a short list of 100 books I have read, listed here in no particular order.

The WAR of ART by Steven Pressfield

We face battles as creative human beings, both from within and without. The biggest ones always seem to revolve around the emotion of fear. What if my work needs to be better? What if nobody likes my book? What if no one wants my artwork, that song I wrote, that photograph I made, or that blog post I wrote? 

This book, The WAR of ART: Break Through The Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield, is divided into three parts, or three books, beginning with Book One - RESISTANCE: Defining the Enemy. Followed by Book Two - COMBATING RESISTANCE: Turning Pro, and the third book or section, Book Three - BEYOND RESISTANCE: Higher Realm.

Steven Pressfield has centered his work in this little gem around what he has identified as the enemy in the War of Art, in that singular idea, the concept of Resistance in all its myriad forms. But beyond that, the most immediate enemy is within ourselves, our tendency to resist the creative impulses we have. Often the root of that Resistance is the fear that we experience as the sense that we are not good enough. What if I fail? What if I get rejected? But he also gives us an answer, a way to fight back against the fear, and a way to understand and cope with the Resistance we experience.

The book is further broken into delightfully small and to-the-point chapters with sometimes profound meaning, providing much to think about even in the shortest branches.

Here are a few brief excerpts.:

RESISTANCE CAN BE BEATEN. 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.

A PROFESSIONAL ACTS IN THE FACE OF FEAR. The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; and then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free  artist. What Henry Fonda does, after puking into the toilet in his dressing room, is to clean up and march out onstage. He's still terrified but he forces himself forward in spite of his terror. He knows that once he gets out into the action, his fear will recede and he'll be okay.

THE ARTIST AND THE TERRITORY. Remember, as artists we don't know diddly. We're winging it every day. For us to try to second-guess our muse the way a hack second-guesses his audience is condescension to heaven. It's blasphemy and sacrilege.  Instead let's ask ourselves like that new mother: What do I feel growing inside me? Let me bring that forth, if I can, for its own sake and not for what it can do for me or how it can advance my standing. 

And finally: "Creative work … is a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give is what you've got." -- Steven Pressfield