Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The War of Art



The Glitter Globe/S. R. Karfelt





The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a tiny book that will kick your ass in such a way that you’ll be enthusiastic about it.


That sounds so Fifty Shades doesn’t it?


This is the précis from the back of the book:


DO YOU:

  •           dream about writing the Great American Novel?
  •           regret not finishing your paintings, poems, or screenplays?
  •           want to start a business or charity?
  •           wish you could start dieting or exercising today?
  •           hope to run a marathon someday?


IF YOU ANSWERED “YES” TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS, THEN YOU NEED…



Buy the Book



This book is perfect if you’re a struggling writer—no matter where in the writing process you are, or which parts of writing you’re struggling with—but it is most definitely not a book exclusively for writers. It’s about how to battle Resistance, that heretofore unnamed force that grabs you around the knees and sucker-punches you in the kidneys when you try to follow your heart or dreams in any endeavor.



Decades after I’d started writing, and stopped, and started, and stopped and started again, I discovered how to finish novels. I had reached a point of absolute intolerance for my own excuses, and found the metal-on-metal, bone-on-bone place that I had to get to in order to realize that writing needed to be on the top of my to-do list, and everything else was going to have to wait for my attention from here on out.



Does that sound impossible? A place where your mission comes first? It’s a place worth fighting for, because it's a place where things get done. Maybe it’s why I write about warriors although the only war I’ve ever been in is life, and the writing world. Maybe it’s why I wrote inside a closet for years—with a sign stating SOD OFF taped to the door.



Not long after I started to pursue publishing, I discovered a group of writers who pointed me towards many self-help paths, one of which was The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It’s one of those books you’ll read and shout yes to throughout, at least mentally.  The fact that the title is a clever twist on Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War only makes it more profound in my opinion. That’s another book with strategic information on how to win a battle.



This book will help you

  • Put a name and face to what is stopping you.
  • Make you realize what you’re up against.
  • Help you discover that you’re not the only one fighting this battle, everyone is.
  • Lead you to the ammunition you need to battle whatever is holding you back.


Clone Warriors
Writing Doesn't Always Hurt

Sometimes the truth is so elusive it’s just that much more obvious when you finally discover it.


Maybe you already have a business plan and the supplies you need to do what you think you were created to do, but you still can’t get the job done. Are you ready to add a tool to your arsenal that will improve your vision and clarify your mission?




You’ll never be more thankful for opening a can of whoop ass. I promise. 











2 comments:

  1. I tried to find it at the library today and it WAS NOT THERE.

    I'm SO sad panda . . .

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  2. In our sprawling metropolis libraries here in the shire, we can request any book and someone will strap it into a saddlebag and slap it on a goat, and then a hobbit will ride it over to our closest library.

    We high tech. ;) Seriously, check your library on-line, bet you can request it. *hands panda a shoot of bamboo with a brownie on top*

    ReplyDelete