The War of Art - 10/10 | other book recommendations?
polycounter lvl 11
I recently picked up The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It's a very short book but was extremely helpful. Although the primary focus is on writing, anything in there can be applied to any artistic application or long-term goal. The tips and mindset that Steven writes about really help you understand discipline and motivation. He also talks a lot about the differences between an amateur and a professional. "An amateur is a weekend warrior, the professional shows up 7 days a week" - are the kind of the axioms you'll be reading. It's extremely hard to not want to open up whatever project you're on after reading this and work your ass off. Overall you'll find the message to be simple - you can only become a professional by relentless application and love for the craft.
Do you know how many books some writers wrote before getting published? Before ever seeing a single dime or praise for their work? The answer is a lot. When you finish the project that you've spent hours upon hours working on, you start right on the next. If you've ever read On Writing by Steven King you'll be familiar with a lot of what this book talks about. We all have natural aptitudes for creative ability, but what separates the big dogs from the puppers is effort.
I thought it was a pretty nice read, was wondering what other books were recommended by polycounters.
Do you know how many books some writers wrote before getting published? Before ever seeing a single dime or praise for their work? The answer is a lot. When you finish the project that you've spent hours upon hours working on, you start right on the next. If you've ever read On Writing by Steven King you'll be familiar with a lot of what this book talks about. We all have natural aptitudes for creative ability, but what separates the big dogs from the puppers is effort.
I thought it was a pretty nice read, was wondering what other books were recommended by polycounters.
Replies
Just grab the audio version.
Cheers !
https://www.amazon.com/Eat-That-Frog-Great-Procrastinating/dp/1576754227
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490318752&sr=8-1&keywords=fear+and+art
but every now and then I run into the kind of person that is picking up "the secret" or whatever is the latest fad and they spend all this time reading these feel good books and wishing themselves better then wondering why someone else who dipped deep into an anatomy book or just spent all their time practicing is outdoing them.
Not saying that is you at all just this is a pretty broad generalization I have noticed around these kind of things.
I highly recommend «Mastery» by Robert Greene, it's a total opposite of «War of art».