Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
    Unavailable
    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
    Unavailable
    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
    Audiobook2 hours

    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

    Written by Steven Pressfield

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Internationally best-selling author of Last of the Amazons, Gates of Fire and Tides of War, Steven Pressfield delivers a guide to inspire and support those who struggle to express their creativity. Pressfield believes that "resistance" is the greatest enemy, and he offers many unique and helpful ways to overcome it.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books Audio
    Release dateJul 12, 2004
    ISBN9781461811886
    Unavailable
    The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
    Author

    Steven Pressfield

    Steven Pressfield has been an enthusiastic golfer since the age of ten. He is the author of the novel Gates of Fire and a well-known screenwriter whose screenplays include "Above the Law" and "Freejack." He lives in the Los Angeles area.

    More audiobooks from Steven Pressfield

    Related to The War of Art

    Self-Improvement For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Note EDITOR’S

      Apr 12, 2017

      FOR POETS AND WRITERS, BOTH AS CITIZENS AND AS PEOPLE with hearts that can break and minds that can imagine, a little reassurance can go a long way. We all need to know that what we’re doing is worthwhile, that our work is having an impact, that some

      2 min read

    • Article

      Note EDITOR’S

      Oct 10, 2018

      FOR POETS AND WRITERS, BOTH AS CITIZENS AND AS PEOPLE with hearts that can break and minds that can imagine, a little reassurance can go a long way. We all need to know that what we’re doing is worthwhile, that our work is having an impact, that some

      2 min read

    Reviews for The War of Art

    4/5

    722 ratings51 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I like this book a lot. First, I like the quotations a lot, and I think that they are very relevant to each section in the book. It is the kind of book that you can go back to from time to time, and you will gain something new from the book each time you read it.Resistance, as Steven Pressfield mentions, is the first and major stumbling block to achieving anything. What I like is how he highlights the many manners and forms in which resistance creeps into us, and saps our soul. The thing with resistance, is that it can keep coming back, and keep coming back. The path to creativity is not so well defined, however, and this is something that each of us must find for ourselves. I like that he uses personal examples, and this does go a long way to highlight how each of us needs to dig a bit deeper into our own stories to find the strength to go forward. In general, a very good book.
    • 4/5
      Very useful as a therapeutic guideline for struggeling artists. Especially the thoughts on Resistance are spot on.
    • 5/5
      For anyone who can't seem to sit down and write that novel, start that business, stick to the exercise plan, this book will be the last you'll ever need.
    • 2/5
      Not a fan. The whole premise discounts many of the road blocks people face when it comes to pursuing a creative dream.
    • 5/5
      In my Top Five of Creative Inspiration category. All of you with a creative soul, do yourself a favor: Read. This. Book. You're welcome.
    • 5/5
      This book is a must-read for motivation to take those first steps towards pursuing a dream. Excellent tips and advice, and every word stirs you to take action!
    • 3/5
      A flowery worded book about how to battle procrastination. It's short, so it's an easy first step for those trying to break the cycle. My concerns with the book are that few chapters are more than a full page; he talks in terms of metaphysics and fantasy; every page contains the same point. Shut up, sit down and get to work. Nothing new here much better books available
    • 4/5
      The War of Art, by Stephen Pressfield will motivate you to do creative work and identifies the things that are holding you back (including, among other things, the fear of success, your ego, etc). I highly recommend it. Parts are a bit new agey but the basic message is, get your butt in the chair, do your work every day, know that there are many forces that conspire against creativity, but doing the work for the love of the work will let you overcome many of those things.
    • 5/5
      I have heard good things about The War of Art for many years. Several of my friends sing its praises. It had been on my list for a long time. Finally, after nearly a decade, the time was right. I needed to read it this week. Had I read it when I first heard of it, it may not have had the same impact on my life.Steven Pressfield is the author of bestseller novels, including The Legend of Bagger Vance. He departs from his normal fiction to write this small book on winning the inner creative war. He discusses how he came to break from his "normal" career and embark on his journey to create novels. However, the book is much more than that story. It is how to break free and have the courage to create.Pressfield begins by naing the force that keeps us from starting something creative - Resistance. It is the force that causes us to doubt and put off what we long to do. It feeds on fear and magnifies it to crippling heights. Resistance, in literary circles, can be known as writer's block. In others, it is procrastination. It is most happy when we do things that are not creative. In short, often one page mini-essays, he defines Resistance in detail so we can recognize it out our life.In the second section of the book, Pressfield describes way to combat Resistance. He calls this "turning professional." He talks about the discipline of creating art. He details his habits in how he lives each day, structured and rigid so as to provide space for his muse to direct his writing. He discusses how the amateur will write when the feeling strikes. The professional treats it as a regular habit, beginning at the same time each day, much as the rest of us start our jobs. He describes the attributes of the professional, such as seeking order, demystifying process, acting in the face of fear and not taking failure and success personally. Again, the format is in short essays.The final section is about going beyond Resistance, examining where art comes from. Pressfield admits he is a spiritual man, firmly believing in angels and muses. He believes God puts us on Earth to be creative, not drones. Therefore, to fulfill our destiny, we must learn to create, take off the blinders on our souls and invoke angels and muses to aid us.I understand the concept of Resistance. It keeps me from writing here as often as I desire. I have many creative ideas circling inside my head, eager for space to land and take root. Resistance keeps me from letting these ideas out to the light. Doubts, fears, poor choices and other excuses have bottled me up for years. As I read this book, I found the naming and descriptions helped me relax and gain confidence in myself. I haven't fully overcome Resistance yet, but I have been breaking down the walls I have built over the decades. It isn't easy to overcome the habits I have built.I highly recommend this book, especially if you have feelings of creativity that are being suppressed for whatever the reason. Pressfield kindly doesn't condemn, but shows the way - the way to win the War of Art.
    • 4/5
      A Great book...very inspirational. definitely made me want to go out and paint more.
    • 5/5
      REgardless of your profession or belief, this book is an absolute must-read for all human beings. As necessary as food. Cited by David Allen no less (of GTD fame) as book that really "got it right"(para).
    • 5/5
      A great book for writers and other artists. Helps explain writer's block and how to stop it.
    • 5/5
      I rarely read 'self help' books, but this was a gem. I'm glad he decided to write it as a self help book rather than going with the trend of the times and writing a philosophical fiction.Maybe it's time I read it again.
    • 4/5
      Easy to read and inspiring book. Tells you that you have to understand and fight your natural resistance to free your creative instincts. Then creation is a demanding professional task that you need to consider as such.
    • 1/5
      Main theme: Don't make excuses, get to work. Profound, subtle, robust? Hardly. Comparing this to Tzu is like comparing my desk-lamp to the sun. Please.
    • 2/5
      Short and brief. I liked the idea behind it. A constant war against 'resistance'. Might pick it up again one day
    • 4/5
      Neither a full-blown, systematic approach nor a manifesto; more a serialized collection of anecdotes. Poetic and well-crafted. I found it motivating, but don't know if I'll refer back to it much.
    • 5/5
      such an amazing book. recommend it to anyone who is trying to start a new venture or change a habit. amazing.reread august 2010
    • 4/5
      Great book for authors, or anyone in a creative field, who need a kick in the butt. Written in tiny, almost aphorism length vignettes. Pressfield subscribes to the "get your rear in the chair and inspiration will come" school, one I largely agree with.
    • 3/5
      Where I got the book: I won a bunch of stuff from a blog a couple of years back and this was in it.If you're a writer, you probably know just how problematical it is to stick your backside in a chair and write. Other creative endeavors are dogged by the same undermining factors of fear and avoidance, which Pressfield calls Resistance. I picked up this book because like many writers, I'm struggling to become the writer I want to be. Not in terms of writing quality, although that's always important and no good writer ever stops thinking about HOW they write; but in terms of being consistent, persistent, professional and organized about my work.Pressfield was in that difficult place, he says, when he finally decided to get serious. He shares his thoughts about Resistance and how to overcome it in 160 or so pages which mostly contain just one paragraph, sometimes even just two or three lines. You could, I suppose, use the rest of the page to add your own notes, but if you're looking for a whole bunch of words to inspire you, you're not going to be happy about the amount of blank space.On the other hand, there are nuggets. I like the idea of the forces stacked against the writer being summed up in the word Resistance. Pressfield covers the symptoms of Resistance, spends some time analyzing what professionals do to overcome Resistance, and then meanders to rather a mish-mashy, New Agey finish by talking about angels, Kabbalah, the Muse and so on. Once we start straying into people's personal philosophy of life, you usually lose me.I probably wouldn't recommend this as a buy, but if your library has it, go ahead. I've seen worse books about getting going with writing.
    • 5/5
      I needed to get the hardback, which came to me from England. I had lent out the paperback and never gotten it back. The person to whom I lent it is still using it and quotes from it occasionally on Facebook, and I don't have the heart to repossess something that someone's enjoying.
    • 4/5
      The beginning of the book is outstanding. I think it trails off a bit after the first third. But it was worth a reread a couple of years later.
    • 4/5
      This book is about how to overcome resistance.
    • 5/5
      Dove-tailing nicely with Eckhart Tolle's works, this little gem about Ego's Resistance to the creative process is informative and inspirational. He also talks about hierarchical and territorial aims; the first is to impress others, the second is what we would do if we were the only person on earth. A definite keeper to be read again and again.
    • 5/5
      The War of Art is outstanding. Pressfield demonstrates the writing mastery he's developed through years of following his own purpose. More importantly, he inspires the rest of us to follow that path for ourselves. Much of this book is about resistance: those forces that hold us back or distract us, as often generated from within as by any outside force. Moreover, he argues that it's only by following our own unique purpose that we can be healthy and fulfilled. I finished the book and immediately found myself tackling new creative endeavors I had put off for so long.
    • 2/5
      I get that lots of people have been inspired by this book - I bought it on the recommendation of people I admire. I also get that simple messages are often the most profound, but this book is just not written in a way that speaks to me.
    • 5/5
      Pressfield's concise assault on Resistance and his distinction between the professional and the amateur helped me break through some substantial blocks along the way to creating my book 'Paths to Wholeness.' Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Rereading this and realizing it's even better as a kick in the mental pants than it was at first read.
    • 5/5
      Powerful book! As I listened, I could related to every scenario, wish the table of contents were available as you listen, wanted to bookmark parts of it, will have to buy it.
    • 5/5
      It was honestly hard to follow at times but I liked it a lot