Book Review: The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield (2002)

The paperback cover of The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield, 2002.

Steven Pressfield’s 2002 book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles is an interesting little book. It’s all about how to defeat resistance and embrace your creativity—whatever form your creativity might take. Pressfield is a former Marine who has written a series of successful historical fiction books.  

The War of Art feels quite dated in some regards—the macho language and the cover blurb from Esquire calling it “a kick in the ass” makes it seem even older than 2002. I’ve read a bunch of 2-star reviews of this book on Goodreads, and many of them are critical of points that Pressfield makes in the book, or opinions Pressfield states. Those reviews are missing the point. With any kind of self-help or advice books like this one, it’s best to simply take what works for you and chuck the rest aside. It’s extremely unlikely that every page of the book will provide a eureka moment.  

Pressfield is big on the distinction between the “amateur” and the “professional.” The amateur is the dreamer who never finishes the task, the professional is the one who sits down and churns it out. I think it’s a bit harsh to make such a rigid classification between the two types. But Pressfield’s larger point is that there is a power in just saying “I am an artist,” or “I am a writer.” If you say it long enough, it starts to feel real to you. I’ve found that in my own life—I’ve started to describe myself as a writer more often when people ask me. And no one has ever challenged me about whether I’m an amateur or a professional.  

Art of any kind is a discipline: you HAVE to sit down at the easel, or piano, or pad of paper or computer to create anything. But there’s also this mix of magic in it—I think every artist has had those moments where it just flows, and you can’t really answer “why did I pick that color, that note, that word?” It just happened. Pressfield is good at understanding this mixture of discipline and magic that goes into the act of creation.  

Something I wish Pressfield had expanded more about was how he made a daily living during the seventeen years before his writing made him any money.  

Pressfield got excellent advice from one of his friends after a movie he wrote the screenplay for tanked at the box office. His friend told him “So you’re taking a few blows. That’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines.” (p.72) It’s easier to say that when it’s your friend taking the blows and not yourself, of course, but I found this comforting—part of being an artist is taking the criticism that will inevitably come your way. The only way to not be critiqued is to exit the arena, and that doesn’t sound appealing.  

One of my favorite things that Pressfield writes in the book is this: “We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.” (p.161) I completely agree. Although I will gladly accept any fortune, attention, or applause about my work you throw my way. But he’s right—I do my writing because it pleases me. I hope my writing finds an audience and I hope that other people enjoy my writing as well. But I have limited control over that.  

The War of Art might help you if you’re trying to minimize resistance and take some concrete steps towards focusing on your art more. You’ll probably find something in it that speaks to you.