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Steven Pressfield did not expect The Legend of Bagger Vance to be a successful novel when he decided to write it.  He did not expect it to be adapted into a film starring Matt Damon and Will Smith.

This is the central theme that The War of Art expounds.  An artist can not expect to create art.  All an artist has is her work ethic.

Pressfield invokes Godwin’s Law early:

You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist.  At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study.  He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture.  Ever see one of his paintings?  Neither have I.  Resistance beat him.  Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway:  it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas

Forgive Pressfield for this particular fallacy in his logic because the rest of the book is fantastic.

The book is written in short chapters that have been laid out in easy to read bits.  It is a book that can be read in an afternoon.

Resistance

Resistance is portrayed as an invisible force that arises from within oneself.  It is never directly defined.  This is because Resistance manifests itself in different forms in different people.  Procrastination, fear, hedonism in excess, and substance abuse are all forms of Resistance.

Resistance can only be felt; it can not be directly pointed to.  It shows its face only when there is an important task at hand.

As a corollary, if Resistance is not felt when attempting a feat, then that task is truly not important.

Combating Resistance

Turning professional is the solution that is offered to combating Resistance.  A pro commits fully to her craft.  She is able to disassociate her ego from her work.  This allows her to ignore criticism while exercising her craft.

An artist focuses on ruthless execution.  Ruthless execution is the best way to combat Resistance.

Beyond Resistance

Pressfield has written a number of novels detailing Greek history.  It is no wonder that he introduces the concept of the Muses to move beyond Resistance.  In Greek mythology, the Muses are the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.  The Muses are thought to inspire great art.

An artist must reap inspiration from somewhere.  Pressfield uses the Muses as a label or placeholder for this inspiration.  The important point is that an artist must acquire inspiration from a divine source to create great art.

The job of the artist is to define what divine means for herself.  The best way for an artist to do this is to put her head down and work on her craft every single day.