Review: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

One of my friends from the Storyteller’s Guild lent me a book to read over the winter holiday season: Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art (not to be confused with The Art of War by Sun Tzu). I was met with a book that, in spite of its relatively short length, was chock-full of wisdom surrounding the creative process.

In my experience, discussions surrounding creativity can often feel like a flowery exchange of wishy-washy concepts such as “inspiration,” “motivation”, or “genius”. Imagine two philosophes bantering, cradling champagne flutes between their index and middle fingers, speaking a bit louder than necessary so others might have the pleasure of eavesdropping on their conversation.

I feel comfortable painting such a hyperbolic scene since I am one of the worst contributors to this whole practice.

What I love about The War of Art is Pressfield’s depiction of the creative process not as a heady display of sentimentality, but as a vicious, harrowing battle.

The book’s title is derived from a central theme of inner conflict. Those striving to live a life of creativity will be met with a villain called Resistance. A merciless, unrelenting, psychotic force of nature that lives within us all, which will stop at nothing to keep us from accomplishing our creative desires.

According to Pressfield, it is the duty of those with creative impulses to rise to the challenge and confront this diabolical entity wherever it exists. He acknowledges that it is not an easy war, but it is at least an honourable one. Each victory brings us closer to something profound and sublime. Each defeat grounds us deeper in our biases and comforts.

Perhaps the greatest value to be gleaned from this work is that the creative process ought to be taken with a degree of fortitude and conviction, and that great works are not generated out of some abstract aether, but are instead hard-fought battles that are only attained through strength and sacrifice.