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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles Paperback – January 11, 2012

by Steven Pressfield (Author), Shawn Coyne (Editor)

3,052 customer reviews

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A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere, The War of Art is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul.

What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do?

Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?

Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.

The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline.

Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself.

Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Amazingly cogent and smart on the psychology of creation."

"A vital gem...A kick in the ass for all of us with a tendency towards procrastination."

About the Author

STEVEN PRESSFIELD is the author of Turning Pro, Do the Work, The Warrior Ethos and the international bestselling novels, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire, Tides of War, Last of the Amazons, The Virtues of War, The Afghan Campaign, Killing Rommel, and The Profession. He lives in Los Angeles.

Paperback: 190 pages
Publisher: Black Irish Entertainment LLC; 47716th edition (January 11, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936891026
ISBN-13: 978-1936891023
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3,052 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Creativity & Genius
- #15 in Books > Self-Help > Creativity
- #77 in Books > Self-Help > Success

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Harry Ramsay

Had Tears In My Eyes By The Time I Was Finished

May 13, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an absolutely amazing book on self-discipline and creativity.

If you're an entrepreneur, an artist, a writer, scientist or just about anybody with an internal urge to CREATE something but cannot because of distractions, fears, doubts and apprehensions, then this is the book for you.

This will book show and define the #1 thing that's stopping you from bringing out your creative potential. It's called Resistance and how it behaves and how it beats you.

And then it stresses why we should overcome the resistance and how to overcome it successfully by detaching ourselves from the fruits, operating from a territorial perspective (i.e. Doing work for the sake of doing work).

By the time I reached the small chapter on Gita and Krishna's explanation on doing work for work's sake, I literally had tears in my eyes.

... Because that's the way an artist must operate, not caring for the fruits.

And I can attest my success in my business & job for JUST that. I gave up all hopes, desires & doubts I had.

I didn't care. I just decided to do the work, punched in my time and 3 years later, I'm at a level that's shocking for many (but something I dreamed about).

However, I still have a lot of blocks where I didn't express myself and get the creative part of me and I'm fortunate to have come across this book.

Anyone who is here to CREATE something - read it. It will change your life!

36 people found this helpful

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Christopher J MacLellan

Doesn't offer strategies to improve; Takes a fixed mindset on creativity

January 3, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I bought this book because I was interested in the concept of resistance (i.e., the urge to procrastinate what I should be doing) and how someone might overcome it. My hope was that the book would present some strategies to lower resistance, so that I could procrastinate less and active my creative self.

However, the book had an oddly religious tone to it—arguing that you need to stop participating in any activities that give you a warm fuzzy immediately gratifying feeling (like eating chocolate) with the implication that giving into these activities makes resistance stronger. This might be true, but it seems like an unrealistic basis for lowering resistance and affecting positive change in one self. I've found a number of strategies for enabling my own creative work, like establishing a consistent routine or only letting myself watch TV for an hour at the very end of the day (rather than trying to give up TV all together, which I find rarely works). The book presented no such strategies.

The book also had some pretty wacky ideas that made it hard to stomach. For example, it suggests that World War 2 is a result of Hitler giving into resistance and not pursuing his career as an artist/architect. This is a logical fallacy called "hypothesis contrary to fact," there is no basis to claim that world war 2 would have been averted if Hitler had become an artist instead (in fact, the political climate probably would have led to the same war under a different figure head).

Lastly, the book takes a "fixed mindset" perspective on creativity, i.e., people are either born creative or they are not. This is in contrast to a "growth mindset" perspective, which would say that everyone can be creative if they learn from their mistakes and work hard to cultivate creative strategies, skills, and knowledge. Carol Dweck's research on these two mindsets (see Mindset: The New Psychology of Success) suggests that the growth mindset perspective (whether it is right or not) leads people to have less stressful and more successful lives. Further, the book's fixed mindset position basically reduces to the idea that there is nothing you can do to be more creative (you just have to be born creative)—undermining my entire intention for purchasing the book.

41 people found this helpful

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Brian Johnson

The first time in 109 reviews that I have ever said, "you Must read this book"!

August 18, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"Kabbalists believe that above every blade of grass is an angel crying "Grow! Grow!" I'll go further. I believe that above the entire human race is one superangel, crying "Evolve! Evolve!""

"The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear, then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there's 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."

~ Steven Pressfield from The War of Art

This is the 109th review I've created. Up to this point, I've made a lot of strong recommendations on books I think you'd love but I've never said you *must* read a particular book.

I'm gonna break that streak here.

If you're a creative person, you need to read this book. It's that good. And, when I say "creative person" I mean anyone who's committed to creating an authentically awesome life. (And, given the fact that you're reading this, my hunch is that clearly means YOU!)

I'm not sure how many times I've read The War of Art over the years but it's a lot. Each time I pick it up I get a swift kick in the creative butt and my life takes a significant step forward.

As the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance and a number of great best-selling novels (my favorite beyond Bagger Vance is Gates of Fire--an incredible portrayal of the classic Spartan warriors), Steven Pressfield knows what it's like to create. He has an extraordinary way of capturing the challenges we face in the War of Art--along with the means by which we can overcome those obstacles (or, as he calls it "Resistance"). Powerful stuff.

Here's just a few of the Big Ideas:

1. Throwing Up - It happens.
2. Work & Its By-Products - Let results take care of themselves.
3. True Love - The amateur vs. the professional.
4. It's 9 O'Clock - Time for inspiration to strike.
5. Time to Turn Pro - A checklist.

To find 250+ more reviews visit http://bit.ly/BrianReviews

110 people found this helpful

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Most recent customer reviews

kwsvrealtor

Five Stars

Excellent book and highly recommend!

Published 2 days ago

Matthew Leonard

Five Stars

Everyone should read this book

Published 3 days ago

Rebecca J. Andrus

Completely EXCELLENT BOOK!

Completely EXCELLENT BOOK!! LOVE It! Can't say enough great things about it. So many things in this book I want to Share on my Facebook page. Magnificent.

Published 3 days ago

Jim

Skip this unless you are a frustrated writer or artist

Explains the issue of "resistance" pretty well, but offers no suggestions about how to solve the problems it causes.Read more

Published 6 days ago

Suzanne Rhoten

I’m Ready For Battle

Inspiring and stimulating. A must read for all creatives. Not creative? Yes you are. Read this book, and to quote Mr. Pressfield: “Give us what you’ve got.Read more

Published 7 days ago

Hilda Bauer

Great gift!

I bought this for my graphic artist husband as a gift and he loves it.

Published 8 days ago

Kerry J. Hofmeister

Five Stars

Anyone that wants to do anything should read this book.

Published 9 days ago

Kristina Miller

Five Stars

Amazing book! Truly works!

Published 10 days ago

Douglas Lane

I was so incredibly disappointed. Snake oil

Trite.

Early in the book, the author describes marketing drugs and states that if you can name a condition, it can be marketed against.Read more

Published 10 days ago

Mad Bagga

Essential for the successful Artist.

This is an essential tool in removing the clutter, distractions, excuses and fear so that one can get on with the work.

Published 11 days ago

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