The War of Art is a very popular book on creativity and productivity. The book is a collection of thoughts from the author’s experience as a writer and a creative professional. It underscores the importance of a work ethic rather than waiting for inspiration and to “sit down and get started” and sticking to the work even when things get hard. I’m writing this post to share some of the key ideas from the book.
The core idea of this book is that we’re on a constant battle with Resistance, the force that tries to work against us. We know it as procrastination, laziness, fear, etc. The more true or high our calling, the more resistance will block it. Here are some common ways in which we feel resistance:
The book describes in detail the difference between an Amateur and a Pro and its mostly in terms of attitude and work ethic. An Amateur does things like a hobby and out of a moderate amount of love while a Pro does it out of so much love and passion that it becomes her sole vocation. A subtle point here is to remember that the Amateur often recognises oneself too strongly with the art while the Pro knows she is much more than her vocation. The difference mostly comes down to how one reacts to resistance.
Being a Pro means not taking ones failures too seriously. In fact failure in the real world is a demonstration of skin in the game and knowing that one is after something real. It is like taking a few punches in the arena and not sitting on the sidelines and for that, one needs to be grateful.
Technically the Pro does the work for money but she also does it out of love. Working for money keeps one honest and creates a healthy detachment with the art. Resistance loves pride and this detachment keeps pride at bay.
Only when inspiration strikes me but it strikes me everyday at 9 am sharp
– Sommerset Maugham on being asked if he writes everyday or when inspiration strikes
A Pro enjoys being miserable, like a marine. The Pro enjoys rejection, ridicule and failure (may be not enjoy but thrives on it). Nothing is as empowering as real world feedback even when its failure.
Pro knows and values the power of patience.
In the context of doing creative work, “hierarchy” means playing to the crowds preferences while “territory” refers to being true to one’s own standards. The author underscores the importance of the tradeoffs involved in doing things for the hierarchy or territory. If the act of doing something is satisfying in and of itself then its territorial but if the real satisfaction comes from external rewards, often generated out of the crowd’s reception, it is most likely hierarchical.
Territory has to be earned by putting in the work like hours at the gym, working on a skill, etc. Once earned, the territory gives back. When your cranky and tired self decides to take on resistance and dives into the pool (or sit down to write), an hour later you feel refreshed. This is the territory giving back. This is another interpretation of “the high” people say they feel after running a marathon.
One other cool idea I could relate to from the book was respecting inspiration as being something external from oneself. The idea comes from “the muse” in Greek mythology. The muses are 7 daughters of Zeus and each of them is responsible for inspiring a specific artform. The muse are supposed to be the creative force and we are just the conduits. It is something that we can’t control and we can only be grateful for it. The idea is to not be too attached to it and not be too disappointed when it doesn’t come. The idea is to be grateful for it when it does come and to be grateful for the work itself when it doesn’t. The invocation of the muse from The Odyssey, specifically the TE Lawrence translation is used by the author as a prayer before he starts working everyday.
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