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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Eye opening!
This was a great book that a friend recommended to me and I'm glad she did. Sometimes artists get stuck or stagnant and more than once I have found myself "warring" with myself as we sometimes do. This book opened my eyes to some of my creative blocks. Great reading.
Rating: - a real winner!
What a great book. A very fast read. Honest, "tough love" for the stuck creative personality. Some coarse language I could have done without, but lots of sharp insight and effective support for his advice in the telling of his own stories and those of others.
Rating: - Profound...
If you are in a certain part of your life right now, you'll find the book profound.
Rating: - War and Art
This is a great little book with alot of wisdom. I am very happy with my purchase. The transaction, shipping and date of arrival were excellent.
Rating:  - Great book but is it helpful?
First I want to say that I love this book. Second, I need to say that there might be better ways to attack procrastination.
The first time I read this, everything in it spoke to my problem of procrastinating from writing. The voice in the book is no-nonsense and raises the stakes of completing your work. He speaks of resistance as an enemy that must be conquered at all costs. He describes how to think of yourself as a professional to put yourself at some remove from your work. He also throws together a mythology of creativeness that is almost Jungian (or from Blake). The voice is that of a hard boiled detective. Really I'm not doing justice to how wonderful these short essays are to read.
However, after reading this book, I worked hard for a short while and again stopped. I can't blame the book for this.
I would argue that this book tries to encourage one to work by raising the stakes. And let me tell you, this book is very inspirational. It will get you working. It will instill in you the idea that your work is important. As the title says, you must attack resistance.
I have personally found that raising the stakes works only in the short term. As much as I love this book, it does nothing to lower my anxiety. Even though Pressfield makes clear that one has to be a professional and not wrap up ones self worth in their work, the overall message is the more resistance you feel, the more you must do this. And it is very very important you do this ("this" being anything you want to do but feel resistance toward doing).
Another way of overcoming procrastination is to lower the stakes. Instead of thinking "I must do this", one can think "I choose to do this" or one can still survive and thrive even if your chosen mission goes uncompleted. If you increase your self esteem in other areas of your life, rather than focusing on that role of "creator", it frees you up to be pulled toward the job - rather than being pushed by the feeling that you "have to" do something. A sense of security is the best motivator for doing creative work.
The War of Art may work for you. I fully recommend buying it. Yet if it doesn't work, you should look at other books on procrastination. What worked for me (and I have no interest in selling any particular book) is the book The Now Habit.
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