The War of Art

My teacher, Gregory Bock, who is a phenomenal teacher who really has it all together, has recommended a number of great books to me over the years, but the one I want to talk about today is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This book basically explains to readers what it is that we go through as artists, which makes it worth reading not only as a fan, but especially as a creative.

There is a fantastic story in the book. The author talks about a bullfighter in the ring getting absolutely beaten up and stomped on by the bull. On the other side, there is a spectator way up high in the stands, you know, up in the nosebleed section. Anyway, he said that it’s always better to be the bullfighter that’s getting beat up and stomped on by the bull rather than the guy who is just sitting there watching the action. For me, this really puts what we go through as artists into perspective. The truth is, if you really have it in you to be an artist, then you just do it. You can feel it burning within you, so you know that it’s true. You can’t fake that passion. If you’re not an artist, you just don’t feel it.

I remember when I first started out, people would come to me and say, “Charese, help my friend out, help them get their SAG card and get started.” And yeah, I would sit down with them. I would sit down with them and I would say, “Ok, what are the different ways in which you can get a SAG card? Just name a few of the many different ways.” And then they would name two or three of the normal, more obvious ways and then I would add a couple if they had forgotten any. For example, working for three (3) days as a background actor or one (1) day as a lead with a speaking part, but you can check out more on https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/steps-join .

Then I would tell them to map out some things that they could do to get their SAG card. For example, who did they know in the industry? How many friends do they have in the industry? Are those friends people that they can approach, that can help in getting them in? Some knew some famous actors who could help get them in, some knew AD’s who could help and then these people would get their cards within a month or two. Here is the important thing though… those same people would then tell me that they would “give it (Hollywood) a year and if it doesn’t work out, they’d just go home.”

I can’t tell you how many people I had to explain this to… You have to treat this career like it’s a marathon, not a sprint, because people don’t just become famous overnight here. It takes work and it takes dedication and the reason why I like The War of Art is because it really makes you examine what you are willing to go through to have this life. Whether the book speaks to you like it did to me or not, it kind of explains what you’re going to go through, you know, if this is your life as an artist. If being an artist is in your blood, you can literally make yourself sick by not creating your art. So you might as well just start creating and find a way to do it all the time.

You know what I love about acting these days is how accessible it is. Before, you could only do it through acting classes and now you can meet with friends and shoot a web series or connect with other people that are doing similar stuff and collaborate. By talking to your friends and working together you can produce a product and get out there. If acting isn’t your main focus, you can write, or paint, even become a photographer or designer. I mean, there are so many different forms of art, the important thing is to just start creating. Start doing it, participating in different forms of art to help you to learn more about your passions and what direction to channel your creativity into. It’s definitely incredible to be an artist nowadays.

As I say, I highly recommend this book because it really puts everything into perspective and has a lot of great quotes that keep you focused and moving forward when times are tough and helps you to really understand your art and what it’s about.