Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 81

An Ask Too Far

[The blog is hors de combat this week, as we prep for the launch of Shawn's wonderful new book, THE STORY GRID, coming in a couple of weeks. Here's one of my fave posts from a couple of years ago:]
In the past year or so I’ve become aware of the verb “ask” used as a
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Exile Revisted

Two weeks ago I wrote about Dave Danelo’s book The Return and “Exile,” which is to The Return what “Resistance” is to The War of Art.
Last week, Shawn wrote about the “Groucho Marx Syndrome,” of an author spooked by the possibility of success, of actually achieving what he wanted.
This past week, a friend e-mailed about
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When Truth Doesn’t Work

I’ve been working on a project that has a strong autobiographical component. One thing I’ve discovered is that you can’t tell the literal truth. The truth doesn’t work.
Instead I’ve had to fictionalize wildly. And the weird part is, the more extravagantly I fictionalize, the more like the truth it sounds.
I was born in a crossfire
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The Groucho Marx Syndrome

[Join www.storygrid.com to read more of Shawn’s Stuff]
A friend of mine is the best literary agent in the business.
She is extremely conscientious, knows her chosen genres better than anyone else, and does that rare thing most agents choose to avoid at all costs.  She not only tells her clients what’s wrong with their stuff, she
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Love in the Time of Resistance

There’s a certain kind of relationship that often seeks out and torments writers and artists. Maybe you’ve had one. Maybe you’ve had more than one.
In this type of love, one of the partners has become aware of her Resistance and is taking active, courageous steps to counter it. She’s writing her novel, she’s initiating her
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The Return

Ernest Hemingway opened his introduction to the anthology Men At War (which he also edited) with:
This book will not tell you how to die. Some cheer-leaders of war can always get out a pamphlet telling the best way to go through that small but necessary business at the end. PM may have published it already
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Second Draft Thoughts

I’m writing this on Friday, March 23, having just read Shawn’s post from today, “The Second Draft (Is Not A Draft),” which I love and which I agree with 100%. I never see what Shawn or Callie write until it appears on the blog. I don’t show ‘em my stuff early either.
Anyway I gotta chip
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The Second Draft (Is Not a Draft)

[Join www.storygrid.com to read more of Shawn’s Stuff]
Congratulations, you now have a first draft, the raw materials for your Story.
The first draft is what Steve Pressfield calls “covering the canvass.”  It has nothing to do with anyone else but you.  Refrain from talking about your first draft or any particular section or sentence you recall
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The #1 Amateur Mistake

My friend Kate used to work for Bob Dylan. Kate told me that every morning the guard out front would find demo tapes from wannabe folk singers and aspiring rockers affixed to Bob’s gate.
I can understand this. I can visualize the solo dude with a Gibson twelve-string on his back, or the young hard-working band
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The First Draft

[Join www.storygrid.com to read more of Shawn’s Stuff]
When you are writing a first draft of anything…a novel, a play, a manual, a grocery store list, take the advice of Satchel Paige.
“Don’t look back.”
Don’t read over what you’ve written before when you begin your day’s work.  Don’t fix any sentences.  Don’t stop and go research to
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