Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 108

The Right Thing

I’ve reread Bob Garfields article “Suffer in Silence” a few times since it was posted.
Short version: Garfield’s piece is a call to brands, cautioning them to restrain from inserting themselves into news stories about the tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school.
Within the piece, he offers examples of a few brands that have hijacked other tragedies, to
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Depth of Commitment, Part Two

We were talking last week about depth of commitment. I was saying that the main difference between an amateur and a pro is their depth of commitment. The amateur’s commitment is shallow. The professional’s is deep.
The question then becomes: Can depth of commitment be increased? Can we move from shallow to deep?
My answer is an
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The Story Behind The “Random House Gives $5,000 Bonuses” Story

For those of us who came of age in the analog universe, the phrase “follow the money” reminds us of a movie that inspired thousands of people to get graduate degrees in Journalism. It comes from William Goldman’s brilliant screenplay adaptation of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s seminal narrative nonfiction book All the President’s Men,
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How Pro Are You?

[Quick note: we're having a Holiday Gift Special right now on www.blackirishbooks.com. For that special someone who could use a good kick in the ass: 6 War of Art/Turning Pro for the price of 3. Help your friends and colleagues keep their New Year's resolutions!]
The question is, “What’s the main difference between a pro and
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Parent and Child

The final three chapters of “A Long Tail Business,” presented here today, are about the emotional side of the industry.
Why do we write songs, or make movies, or bake cookies? What’s the payoff? Is it just money? Then maybe we should stick with our mainstream gig.

What’s great about a Long Tail business, as Shawn and
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Outreach, Part IV: Making New Connections, Finding Lines of Drift

If you watched our show, you’d know we didn’t cover that.
Yes, but I –
Click.
Just out of college, my Rolodex was limited to family, friends, and take-out restaurants. The senior publicist charged with training me through my first PR job forwarded me to the company database and suggested I pull a call list off of
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Built for Adversity

Human beings are built for adversity. Probably all extant species are, or they wouldn’t still be extant. But we humans in particular—lacking claws, fur, fangs, etc.—have needed the evolutionary edge of being designed for hard times.
Almost every great book or movie is about adversity. Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Hangover. The whole concept of
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Monetizing Slush

My first job in publishing was as editorial assistant (secretary/apprentice) to the editor in chief of a major publishing house (since dissolved and folded into a division of Random House Inc.). One of the first things presented to me was a very large pile of submissions that one and all referred to as the slush
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Laser Targeted Marketing

Continuing with the video chapters of “A Long Tail Business“:
Today’s three are Laser Targeting Marketing, Tribes and Authenticity, and Permission to Intrude. We’re stealing from Seth Godin today—his concepts of a “tribe” and of “permission marketing.”

In a Long Tail business, a presence on the web is essential. Through that presence—a site, a store, a blog—a
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Major Keys and Minor Keys

We were talking last week about thinking in terms of multiple drafts. The corollary is to concentrate on only one objective per draft — e.g., stakes, rhythm, theme, length, and so forth.
Another one I like is Major Key and Minor Key.
I’ll go over a manuscript or screenplay, for example, looking only for these. I’ll ask
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