books - The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

This is an interesting little book.  Pressfield argues that "Resistance" is what causes us to procrastinate doing the things we should be doing or making the art we want to create.  The book is in three parts, defining resistance, becoming a professional, and finding inspiration. 

He shares his ideas in small anecdotes and stories, and defines Resistance as everything from procrastination to drug use to issues in family relationships.  He gets into the idea that some people may have an interest in you not succeeding - their own resistance can become yours. 

He defines becoming a professional not in terms of pay, but in terms of showing up to do the work regularly, rain or shine.  I think that is a great point - if you want to be a professional writer, you're going to have to show up and do the work as a professional writer before you sell your first book. 

The last section is a little more philosophical.  He talks about finding inspiration, recognizing when you need to go looking for it, recognizing it in whatever outfit it happens to show up in.  You might not find it where you think. 

I really enjoyed this one.  It's a nice, easy read with some deep ideas to convey about the difference between art and craft, inspiration, and just getting the work done.  I highly recommend this if you're a person who gets inspired but then stuck on projects on a regular basis.  This book can help you look for strategies to get around those roadblocks.