Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 145

Writing Wednesdays #20: Giving It Away

[Apologies to our "One Tribe" readers--and to Andrew Lubin, whose post was slated for today. We had to move up Wednesday's Writing Post to today.]

I know Giving It Away is supposed to work as a web marketing strategy, bringing in new customers. (Like when rock bands offer free downloads of their songs and the new listeners then go out and buy the group's CDs or attend their concerts.) I've tried this. I must confess that so far the only part I've mastered is giving it away. But there's one...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #10: Pakistan

SP: Chief Zazai, I'd like to talk to you today on the subject of Pakistan. More than any other aspect of the Afghan conflict, I think, the subject of Pakistani involvement is confusing to Americans. Even extremely well-versed observers ask, "Whose side is Pakistan on?" You, more than anyone I know, are in a position to really "tell it like it is." So let me ask you first, what do you think is the Pakistani agenda in the current Afghan conflict? What does the government of Pakistan want?

Chief...

Writing Wednesdays #19: Having A Practice

Last Wednesday I wrote a post called "Self-Doubt." It shared a rough patch I was going through on the book I'm working on now. I put it out there because I wanted other writers and artists (who know this already but perhaps needed a little reminder, as I do) to remember that they aren't alone when they themselves struggle with this demon. People wrote in. I want to say thanks to all of them, to those friends and trench-mates who said thanks and who offered me encouragement. I appreciate it.

One Tribe At A Time #10: A Report from embedded journalist Andrew Lubin

[We'll be hearing again from Maj. Jim Gant in three weeks, but for this Monday and the next, I'm very pleased and honored to feature a "report from the trenches" from independent foreign correspondent Andrew Lubin, who has just returned from six weeks in Afghanistan where he was embedded with Army and Marine troops. Mr. Lubin's son Phil is a Marine artilleryman; Andy loves the troops; nothing gives him greater pleasure than to get out there in the tall cane with young Marines and soldiers...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #9: Thoughts on Corruption

SP: Chief Zazai, I'd love to get your take today on the subject of corruption, because so much has been written about it recently in the American press–that cleaning up the Karzai government has become a major priority of the new Obama plan, that benchmarks will now be enforced and so on. The Western media have reported that corruption is simply a part of Afghan life, that it can never be eradicated. What do you say to this? Is it true? Is there a tribal component to corruption?

Chief Zazai...

Writing Wednesdays #18: Self-Doubt

True confessions: I'm 95% through a project I've been working on for two years, and I find myself suddenly wracked with self-doubt. All the negative thoughts that we're all so familiar with are surfacing. Have I screwed the pooch? Have I lost my mojo? Do I really have anything worth saying?

I know the tune. The question is: What do I do about it?

I want to share my internal process, because we all go through these dark hours. Here's how I'm handling the current raft of B.S. inside my head.

One Tribe At A Time #9: My Back Pages

[Some of the smartest and most interesting input we've received on this blog has come from the Comments section. Alas, such contributions often go unnoticed, buried as they are in the "back pages." In an attempt to rectify this, I'd like to present here on the front page a very insightful response to Maj. Jim Gant's paper, "One Tribe At A Time," from former infantry platoon leader and Brigade Intelligence Officer Jim Gourley--along with a reply-in-depth from Maj. Gant. This is long, but...

Writing Wednesdays #17: Finishing and Starting

There's a story in The War of Art about the afternoon when I finally, finally finished my first novel manuscript–after failing ignominiously in numerous attempts over the previous ten years. I was living in a little town in Northern California then; I trotted down the street to my friend and mentor Paul Rink and told him the triumphant news. "Good for you," he said without looking up. "Start the next one tomorrow."

There's big-time wisdom in what Paul said and here's why:

Keeping up the mo

Paul...

One Tribe At A Time #8: E-mails from the Troops

[This is going to be a long post. What follows are just some of hundreds of e-mails received by Maj. Gant in response to his paper, "One Tribe At a Time."  The first is from Luke Murray, who lost his leg in an IED strike near Sarkhani, Afghanistan on 18 July 2003 as a member of Maj. Gant's ODA 316. He gave permission to post his e-mail to the blog.:]

Jim,

Just finished reading your paper. I have been following it on Mr. Pressfield's blog for the last couple weeks. Being one of the privileged...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #8: Is Time Running Out?

SP:  Chief Zazai, we hear every day in the American press that things are "going wrong," "getting worse," "we are losing." Even in one of your recent e-mails to me, you said "time is running out, things are going more wrong." Can you give us some specifics? What exactly is "going wrong?" Why is "time running out?"

Chief Zazai: Let's start with the type of regime that the West, with all good intentions, has helped to set up in Afghanistan. I think it is  clear that the kind of democracy which...