A COVID-spawned enterprise
When the coronavirus first hit, I thought to myself, “How can I help? People are facing tremendous new psychological and emotional challenges. What can I share? How can I contribute?”
I started doing a no-frills video series on Instagram … just two-minute pieces with me on-camera … in which I’d recommend books that I thought might fortify all of us in this new upside-down world. Inevitably a bunch of these titles came from the ancient world—Xenophon, Herodotus, Arrian, Thucydides, etc.
Short version:
I’ve decided to expand this series.
This intro video describes what I’m trying to do.
I’m calling the series The Warrior Archetype. The episodes will be five or six minutes instead of two. I’m planning on fifty episodes or more. Two a week. Monday and Thursday. All videos with transcripts.
I’m going to start with the ancient Spartans and Athenians and follow the thread up through the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, the Romans … and on into the Bhagavad-Gita and the inner war that you and I fight every day, not just against the forces of self-sabotage inside our own heads but against the individual and collective dark energy that seems to be inundating the nation and the planet more and more every day.
There’s a SUBSCRIBE box at the bottom of the page. Sign up and you’ll get the (free) episodes in your inbox, just like “Writing Wednesdays.” I would not presume to automatically switch any current “WW” subscriber over. If you don’t opt-in, you won’t get the new series.
P.S. Don’t worry, “Writing Wednesdays” is not going anywhere. “WW” will continue to be delivered every Wednesday. It ain’t going away!
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Thank you Steve! I look forward to listening to you in these. My general tendency is to unsubscribe from as much as possible, and never take on new subscriptions, but yours is the exception, of course!
Hope you’re doing okay with all this ever-accelerating craziness. We’re all hanging in there with you.
Peter
Thank you! I appreciate you. The War of Art is my “go to” book that keeps me from freezing over mentally.
Steve, incidentally some readers do cross over! I’ve read all your ‘inner struggle’ books, and half or so of your novels. Of course the first one I read, some twenty years ago, was the incredible Gates of Fire.
It could be that the folk who read both are those of us who are also writers? And that the general reader probably does stay with just one tracker – inner or outer.
Peter
I’m another one of the cross overs. A friend recommended Gates of Fire. Loved it. Saw War of Art. Read it and loved it as well. As Peter suggests it may be because I’m a writer. I recommend War of Art, and this blog, to all my writing friends.
Steve, super pumped about this! Thanks for serving brother, it is in your nature. Semper Fi!
Thanks Steve! I love it!
I’m grateful for your sharing nature, Steven. I read The War of Art years ago, and can’t stop recommending it. Your gifts are fabulous and I really appreciate your sharing.
Awesome!
What a phenomenal idea! What an in-looked for blessing. Thank you!
That was supposed to be UN-looked for!
Thanks Coach!
Thanks so much Steve. This is going to be so helpful to everyone in the trenches!
Thank you so much for this, and for all you do. I’m looking forward to The Warrior Archetype! I just read the “Professional Mindset” JAB last night and really appreciated it…exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks again!
Just to say I am not a writer and I do read both. Steve, I am an IT Engineer/Banking Systems Analyst. I am also a photographer. Your work applies in so many ways! Thank you, sir!
Steve, I loved your War on Art! It helped me so much with my creative blocks. I am looking forward to this video series. Just like so many others, its been a tough almost surreal year. What makes it worse is the polarity of these times. Its a good moment to focus on personal truth. Thank you for your generous inspiration.
Steve; this promises to be an awesome series-thank you! S/f
thank you. Looking forward to them! How do you structure you day as a warrior please? Thanks
We finished 2 weeks of writing on the Warrior Archetype in the writing class I teach and I am so excited about your upcoming series. We need it. Our country needs it.
My name means warrior. When my Dad boxed for the University of Wisconsin, the coach put him in a fight when he was sick. Dad (who later went on to be an NCAA boxer) got knocked out. in the first round. Mom, 8 months pregnant with me jumped in the ring and in front of thousands of people balled out the coach. So, they named me, their firstborn Kelly.
Love your story!!
Thumbs up!
The smoky sky looks different now.
Thank you for the inspiration!
~Lilli
GREAT – Thank you for doing this. I will need to cross over and get GATES OF FIRE.
Awesome Steve look forward to this series. I got introduced to war of Art just over a couple of months ago. And since then I read it at least once a day. That is a book every person who has an urge to create to build must read.
WOW! I never get tired of re-reading The War of Art…it’s my go to book when I get stuck. Maybe it’s time I cross over to “The Gates of Fire.” Thank you for this…perfect timing as I prepare to go back into the school setting with our students. We need warriors…leaders more than ever!
Love this. Steven is it possible to do an interview with you? We are running an organisation called Maniphesto (www.maniphesto.com) doing gatherings for men, where archetypal work is a core part of our work and we have the War of Art as one of our core books we get men to read as it is the best we have found for the type of men we are working with.
Here under Covid we also started focusing more on online work and have recently started up a Youtube channel, dedicated to men’s work, you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/c/ManiphestoMensWork
It would be great if we can get a 30 – 60 minute interview with Steve on Zoom
Warrior Wednesdays! Writing Wednesdays! It seems that Wednesday is my new favorite day.
Steve,
Gates of Fire what is the first of your books I read and the War of Art was the second.
Both have brought me to tears and heights of inspiration rarely experienced.
I have a Pressfield repeat cycle of no more than 5 months in which I re-absorb one of your books.
So, maybe, using today’s Post Modern vernacular…I’m Pressfield Fluid!
This video series is the best demonstration of leader ship I’ve seen from any individual in 2020. I’m not surprised it came from you, but it fills my heart with hope and joy. Thank you. Maybe you should jump on Brett Weinstein‘s “unity 2020“ ticket…you’d have my vote.
bsn
Maybe Pressfield non-binary is more accurate…
bsn
Super!! Many thanks, Steve. I’m signed up.
Bring it on.
My ancient Greek is rusty hope you write slowly..Kevin jn Nova Scoti.
I have a short workbook for stress analysis and stress reduction as well as identifying female-male differences in what creates stress. YOUR PERSONAL STRESS ANALYSIS Very inexpensive on Amazon or my website. drlindalmoore.com
Thank you so much Steven!! What a wonderful gift and awesome topic!!! Excited to begin ☀️
Signed up! Thank you Steve!!!
Thank you, Steve I appreciate your generosity and your insights.
Another valuable gift from the Sensei. Thank you, Steve. Can’t wait to dig in. SF
I subscribed! I started a similar kind of COVID project for a writer-in-residency at a local city library system. I had to push aside all the work and workshops I’d planned for a conventional in-person residency and instead, learned how to make videos with simple animations to be presented in a Facebook group I decided to analyze The Wizard of Oz and got through a variety of topics in very, very short videos. I decided to continue the series and use for other teaching opportunities. So I started a YouTube channel as a place to house the videos.
Never would I have believed I could do an animated teaching series prior to being forced indoors. These are difficult times, but we can still learn and thrive. I quoted you often during the course of the residency and I’m looking forward to your new series. Thank you.
Thanks to Shawn Coyne and StoryGrid, I learned about The War of Art and Gates of Fire. The War of Art is my go-to guide, pages highlighted and marked with flags for easy reference.
Gates of Fire is a powerful book with an extraordinary character’s story. It was a challenge for me: the weapons of war were completely unfamiliar. I was grateful to discover a dictionary of Ancient Greek weaponry and terminology about the people’s lives that helped me envision scenes and understand details that otherwise would have eluded me.
Having read Gates of Fire, it was easy to see the profound influence your book had on the life of author Michael McClellan and in his epic fantasy The Sand Sea.
Thank you for sharing your gifts. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to hear you speak and meet you in September 2019 at StoryGrid Live in Nashville.
Thank you for this Steve. I pride myself in being a non-fiction reader for some reason, perhaps I’ve not looked deeper into allegorical types of work like Gates of Fire. And as a practicing Hindu, I can’t wait for you to move onto the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. The War of Art has really helped me, and I’m sure this endeavor will be a success. All the best!
Fifty episodes! That’s generous. Thank you. Currently, Do The Work is my go-to when the going gets tough. It keeps my head in the game every time I listen to it. I look forward to The Warrior Archetype episodes.
Blessings to you!
How generous and on point–I just love when intentions connect with purposeful action! Thank you, Steve. You’re a Warrior of the Heart for us. I wonder if you might touch upon the ancient stories of the indigenous peoples of the America’s. Battles between seasons, earth and sky, parallel worlds, tricksters, animals and men. (you did say 50 *or more* … :-D)
I’m a War Of Art reader (and re-reader) who never considered reading Gates Of Fire, never even thought about it actually…until today. Your insights are always fascinating so I’m eager to hear more. Thank you for the video series!
Steve Pressfield has taught me more about being a warrior than anyone. He gave me the emotional tools to deal with physical war (Gates of Fire) and the inner war (War of Art). In my line of work you had to have both. I read and then re-read both books often. As I begin a new journey in a different direction I will lean on both. If you truly want to not just understand what being a warrior is about but have it explained in a way that can be life changing…hold on for a ride. Warriors? They are all around us. Everywhere. You probably know a few. One is probably reading this. If you don’t know one and you need one – become one. Your warrior spirit is as close to you as your heart-beat but some have to be helped to hear it…and Steve can help you hear that heart-beat. “It is one thing to study war; it is another to live the warrior’s life.” I will be watching every episode. Thanks old friend. Jim Gant
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing your art.
Nenikékamen, Steve!!!!
I’m definitely subscribing, thank you for all the work you put in. I plan to cut back on even more email subscriptions, but your information is too valuable not to keep enjoying. I don’t comment as much as I should, but I enjoy reading.
Wonderfully generosity, which is at the heart of the warrior. Thank you, Steve,
Thank you.
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