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The War of Art

Written by Steven Pressfield · 2002 · grounds Steven Pressfield

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Overview

Pressfield's account of Resistance, the impersonal force that opposes any work that matters, and of turning pro as the only reliable defence against it. Written in very short chapters, arranged in three parts: defining the enemy, combating it, and what shows up once you are working.

A full write-up of this book has not been published yet.

Watch the series

7 episodes drawn from this book, about 10m 23s in total. Each one opens on the problem rather than on the summary.

  1. 01It Has a NameYou have a thing you are supposed to be doing. You are not doing it. You have explained this to yourself as laziness, or bad timing, or not being ready. I want to take all of that away from you and give you one word instead.1m 34s
  2. 02It Is Not PersonalIt feels like it is aimed at you. It arrives exactly when you sit down. It finds the precise excuse you cannot argue with. It seems to know you. I am telling you it does not know you at all.1m 26s
  3. 03Follow the FearThere is a piece of work you keep circling and never begin. Every time you get near it something in you goes cold. You have read that as a warning. I want to argue it is the opposite of a warning.1m 29s
  4. 04Self-Doubt Is EvidenceYou keep asking whether you are really a writer. Really a founder. Really an artist. You take the question itself as the answer, and the answer you hear is no. You have that exactly backwards.1m 24s
  5. 05Turning ProThere is a difference between the person who does this seriously and the person who does not, and it is not talent. I want to be precise about what it actually is, because the usual explanations are flattering and wrong.1m 34s
  6. 06Nothing Else MattersPeople ask me about inspiration, about where ideas come from, about how to know when something is ready. I have stressed professionalism so heavily for a reason, and here it is, plainly.1m 28s
  7. 07Territory, Not HierarchyYou keep checking how you are doing relative to other people. Where you rank. Who is ahead. I want to show you why that particular habit will drain you no matter how well you place.1m 28s