Steven Pressfield
Novelist and writer on craft; wrote The War of Art, Gates of Fire and The Legend of Bagger Vance.
Steven Pressfield did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
Latest Blog
What they believe
-
An unfinished work is worth nothing at all, not almost everything.
If the completed book is 427 and you’ve written 426, you haven’t got 426/427ths. You’ve got nothing.
stevenpressfield.comSaid 2 Sept 2026This on korrents
-
Resistance to finishing is strongest at the finish line, precisely because the work is about to be done.
We talked in an earlier chapter about Resistance being the strongest at the finish line. It is. Resistance knows we’re about to defeat it. It summons all its genius and all its power to stop us.
stevenpressfield.comSaid 26 Aug 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Feed
As its own page →Hiding
4 November
28 October
21 October
14 October
7 October
30 September
23 September
16 September
9 September
2 September
-
Their words
If the completed book is 427 and you’ve written 426, you haven’t got 426/427ths. You’ve got nothing.
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 7 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
An unfinished work is worth nothing at all, not almost everything.
If the completed book is 427 and you’ve written 426, you haven’t got 426/427ths. You’ve got nothing.
487 Minus One = Zero Said 2 Sept 2026
Resistance to finishing is strongest at the finish line, precisely because the work is about to be done.
We talked in an earlier chapter about Resistance being the strongest at the finish line. It is. Resistance knows we’re about to defeat it. It summons all its genius and all its power to stop us.
The Drive to Finish Said 26 Aug 2026
Finishing one piece of work, even a failed one, permanently removes the difficulty of finishing.
Once you finish—even one time, even on a project that ultimately fails—you will never have trouble finishing again.
The Drive to Finish Said 26 Aug 2026
Show 4 more
What gets a stuck maker out is an hour of work with no idea what it is for, and the relief arrives before any result does.
So I did something crazy. I pulled out my typewriter and banged away for an hour.
The Night That Changed Everything Said 8 Jul 2026
He is not the most talented writer in the room and never was; what has carried him is the capacity to grind.
I’m not the most talented writer in the room. Never have been.
Talent Is Bullshit Said 1 Jul 2026
Making art is a job you turn up to whether or not you feel inspired, and the work only arrives for people who are already at the desk.
It doesn’t matter what creative field you’re in. Keep showing up day after day, and the game of numbers will work in your favor.
Talent Is Bullshit Said 1 Jul 2026
Fear is the emotion artists live and die by: it stops them beginning their work, carrying it through adversity, or finishing it when they are close.
Artists and warriors live and die by one primal emotion. Fear. Fear stops us from beginning our work. Or carrying it forward in the face of adversity. Or completing it when we’re so, so close.
Writing Wednesdays: Get a Grip on Fear Said 5 Feb 2020
Beliefs others hold too
Making art is a job you turn up to whether or not you feel inspired, and the work only arrives for people who are already at the desk. 3 hold this
It doesn’t matter what creative field you’re in. Keep showing up day after day, and the game of numbers will work in your favor.
Talent Is Bullshit Said 1 Jul 2026
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 15 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Recommends Boundary Boss
She's the author of Boundary Boss (which I highly recommend) and a powerful and insightful voice on social media and the web.
stevenpressfield.com 20 Dec 2023
Recommends David Baldacci Teaches Mystery and Thriller Writing
derived extremely loosely from his MasterClass on Mystery and Thriller Writing (which I highly recommend.)
stevenpressfield.com 3 May 2023
What others say about David Baldacci Teaches Mystery and Thriller Writing →
Liked Falling Upward
Richard Rohr is a Franciscan or Benedictine monk. I think he lives in Albuquerque or somewhere like that. And he wrote a book called Falling Upward. This is what we were talking about.
tim.blog 15 Dec 2022
Show 12 more
Loved Defeat Into Victory
I’m reading a book I love but that I would not recommend to anyone unless they're as crazy as I am.
stevenpressfield.com 29 Dec 2021
Liked The Creative Habit
And another person, there’s a wonderful book by Twyla Tharp, I’m sure you’re aware of this, Tim, called The Creative Habit, and she kind of describes her habits and she’s kind of like me.
tim.blog 27 Feb 2021
Liked Finding Ultra
I don’t know if I would call his book, Finding Ultra , an autobiography … but it’s certainly a tale of the ordeal of finding one’s calling
stevenpressfield.com 2 Dec 2020
Loved The Rich Roll Podcast
There are a lot of terrific podcasts out there, but his is the one I never miss.
stevenpressfield.com 2 Dec 2020
Loved Trust Me, I'm Lying
Ryan’s first book, which I absolutely loved, was Trust Me, I’m Lying .
stevenpressfield.com 25 Nov 2020
Loved Lives of the Stoics
Five stars for the book and five stars for the man.
stevenpressfield.com 25 Nov 2020
Uses Seth's Blog
Seth's blog is the first thing I read every morning.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Liked This Is Marketing
The Dip, Purple Cow, Linchpin, This is Marketing … all great.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Liked Linchpin
The Dip, Purple Cow, Linchpin, This is Marketing … all great.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Liked Purple Cow
The Dip, Purple Cow, Linchpin, This is Marketing … all great.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Liked The Dip
The Dip, Purple Cow, Linchpin, This is Marketing … all great.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Loved The Practice
Here’s one that I can’t recommend highly enough: Seth Godin’s The Practice.
stevenpressfield.com 11 Nov 2020
Where they publish
Blog The Arcadian His weekly posts on writing, resistance and craft. Has a feed.
Recent
- Inner Weather, Part Two 4 Nov 2026 In the midst of an excruciating breakup a few years ago, I did some of the best writing of my life. A couple of years before that, I faced two life-and-death health issues back-to-back. I finished one book and started a…
- Inner Weather and Outer Weather 28 Oct 2026 As I write this, a gale is howling outside. Rain is dumping in sheets; it’s the kind of weather that makes the voice of Resistance between my ears say, “This is nuts! You should take today off.” But there’s an entirely…
- You, Inc., Part Two 21 Oct 2026 The concept of You, Inc. is a direct application of the idea of self-motivation instead of externally-imposed motivation, self-discipline in place of outside discipline, self-reinforcement in the stead of Third Party Va…
Show 7 more
- You, Inc. 14 Oct 2026 The following comes from The War of Art, pages 97-98. When I first moved to Los Angeles and made the acquaintance of working screenwriters, I learned that many had their own corporations. They provided their writing ser…
- Artist = Entrepreneur, Part Three 7 Oct 2026 If an artist is an entrepreneur (and she is), then she too must navigate the passage from externally-imposed structure to self-imposed structure. She must move from imposed discipline to self-discipline; from external v…
- Act Like a Mother 30 Sept 2026 That idea for a videogame that’s gestating inside you? That’s your baby. That novel. That album. That new business. The virtues you and I need to develop are the virtues of mothers. A mother puts her own needs second (o…
- Warriors and Mothers 23 Sept 2026 What are the virtues of an entrepreneur? What qualities of mind do you and I need if we are going to succeed as artist/entrepreneurs? One answer (the one I usually use) is to say we need the virtues of warriors: Courage…
- The Business We’ve Chosen 16 Sept 2026 Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn’t angry; I knew Moe, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go.…
- Fear of Success Anonymous 9 Sept 2026 This is going to sound like a joke, but I swear it’s true. I once joined Fear of Success Anonymous, aka FOSA. This was in Los Angeles, so almost all the group members were actors or screenwriters. The group got so popul…
- 487 Minus One = Zero 2 Sept 2026 My first agent was a gentleman named Barthold Fles. He was seventy-six; I was twenty-nine. One day over coffee Bart asked me, “How much is 427 minus one?” I gave the obvious answer: 426. “No,” said Bart. “It’s zero.” He…
Link verified 20 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.