notes on War of Art, or How the Resistance Tricked Me into Writing This Post

O, I am so fucking tired of the war paradigm.  It’s so fucking stale, but fuck me if I didn’t download War of Art and read it.  (It’s Myke Cole’s fault, btw.)  And I have to admit I liked it and found it nourishing.

A few reasons to carry an airsick bag, though.  Obviously, this is a really white male book.  Big into the Greeks and shit. For that reason, parts of it made my lip curl. And I couldn’t help wondering, for all the macho talk about war and suffering and work, how much punishment the author could really take—or would want to. I am not a man and I can’t claim to know how men’s heads work, but as a woman who has physically been through some shit I think the author takes a little too much pleasure.  Everybody breaks. Something feels off here.

Also, the forward by Robert McKee annoyed me.  McKee (himself over-invested in grandiose statements about how Real Writers behave, ugh) claims talent is inborn.  Please.  Look up Michael Jordan’s career sometime, dude.  And Pressfield does get hung up on this stupid dichotomy between the Amateur and the Professional.  Separating the Men from the Boys, anyone?  Yawn.

Here’s another one ‘That is why birth is such a humbling experience. The new mom weeps in awe at the little miracle in her arms. She knows it came out of her but not from her, through her but not of her.’

Seriously? She’s crying because she’s been a vessel for a miracle? Dude, did you just inhale your chewing tobacco up into your prefrontal cortex?

NOTE TO MEN: Please don’t write about childbirth or make childbirth analogies unless you’ve done your fucking research. 

But I’m making it sound like I didn’t like the book.  I did.  I liked it a lot. Recognised much. There are some very good insights, especially a definition of creative blocks (or Resistance with the capital ‘R’ of personification) and its manifestation that every writer should have taped to their wall.  It made me want to make one of those flow charts for each of the excuses Resistance offers, all of which would have an arrow coming out the other end called ‘do your work.’  Some of these tricks on the part of the writing devils can be quite subtle and I have met most of them at some point.  Old friends, some of them. 

It’s the kind of book that makes you want to pick up a shovel and get going. Recommended.