Posted on Jun 18, 2015
Steven Pressfield here for a live Q and A session Tuesday 6/23. What questions do you have for me?
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From Steven Pressfield: "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. Your questions were great, and I hope my answers lived up to your expectations. I hope to come back and visit you soon!"
From RallyPoint Staff:
Steven Pressfield, Marine Reserve Veteran and author. His book, Gates of Fire, is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Reading list and taught at West Point and Annapolis. Mr. Pressfield visited RallyPoint for a live Q and A Tuesday June 23 at 4:00pm EST.
In 2009, Mr. Pressfield launched the blog “It’s the Tribes, Stupid” with the intention of helping explain the tribal mindset in Afghanistan to the Marines and Soldiers on the ground. Over the past decade he has dedicated himself to the study of war, releasing The Warrior Ethos, The Virtues of War, Tides of War, The Afghan Campaign, and most recently The Lion’s Gate: a study of the Six Day War in Israel in June of 1967.
This coming Tuesday Mr. Pressfield will be joining us to discuss the history behind any of his books, including:
- The inspiration for Gates of Fire
- What is the “Warrior Ethos”?
- How did the supportive society surrounding the Spartan “pure warriors” enable or improve their military?
- Why should we pay attention to the Six Day War?
- Perspective on Israel’s state of conflict
- Learnings from conversations with members of the IDF?
You can grab a copy of The Lion’s Gate here: http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Gate-Front-Lines-Six/dp/ [login to see] /ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
From RallyPoint Staff:
Steven Pressfield, Marine Reserve Veteran and author. His book, Gates of Fire, is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Reading list and taught at West Point and Annapolis. Mr. Pressfield visited RallyPoint for a live Q and A Tuesday June 23 at 4:00pm EST.
In 2009, Mr. Pressfield launched the blog “It’s the Tribes, Stupid” with the intention of helping explain the tribal mindset in Afghanistan to the Marines and Soldiers on the ground. Over the past decade he has dedicated himself to the study of war, releasing The Warrior Ethos, The Virtues of War, Tides of War, The Afghan Campaign, and most recently The Lion’s Gate: a study of the Six Day War in Israel in June of 1967.
This coming Tuesday Mr. Pressfield will be joining us to discuss the history behind any of his books, including:
- The inspiration for Gates of Fire
- What is the “Warrior Ethos”?
- How did the supportive society surrounding the Spartan “pure warriors” enable or improve their military?
- Why should we pay attention to the Six Day War?
- Perspective on Israel’s state of conflict
- Learnings from conversations with members of the IDF?
You can grab a copy of The Lion’s Gate here: http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Gate-Front-Lines-Six/dp/ [login to see] /ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Marines
Reading
Q&A
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 13
Hi Mr. Pressfield,
First, I'd just like to say I'm truly astounded by your spectrum of work. From fictional sports, to ancient historical fiction, to sci-fi, you're quite a talented author.
My question is you've mentioned the "warrior ethos" in some of your work. Would you say we have a clear code/direction/purpose in today's military? Do you think the causes/operations our military is engaged in truly resonates with our warriors? Our society?
First, I'd just like to say I'm truly astounded by your spectrum of work. From fictional sports, to ancient historical fiction, to sci-fi, you're quite a talented author.
My question is you've mentioned the "warrior ethos" in some of your work. Would you say we have a clear code/direction/purpose in today's military? Do you think the causes/operations our military is engaged in truly resonates with our warriors? Our society?
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LCpl Steven Pressfield
I think the men and women I've met, Carlos, DO have a clear code. But I'm not so sure that the operations/wars that the US has been involved in (for a long time) work with that code, or that the code works with them. How do you fight ISIS with honor? You've hit on a really critical question here. I don't know if I have the answer.
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Steven! What an honor to have you here! I've been meaning for weeks to ask the RP staff to invite you for a live Q&A, it looks like they beat me to it! Some day I'm going to have to go back through all my posts here on RP where I've linked to your books and tag you so you can see just how often I cite your works in examples to fellow Servicemembers here.
My question is a simple but hard one: which of your books is your favorite?
My question is a simple but hard one: which of your books is your favorite?
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LCpl Steven Pressfield
That's a great question. Of course books are like children, you love 'em all. But my favorite is "Tides of War" (which is far from the most popular), because it's the most ambitious, the deepest, and I love the characters -- and it resonates the most deeply with the problems the contemporary U.S. and U.S. military are dealing with.
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Thanks for spending time with us Steven! I need to get out there and read some of your work soon. These books look like excellent reads. For any service members who might be aspiring authors, what advice would you lend them now to better prepare for the day they want to put pen to paper?
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Capt Richard I P.
Brandon, I'm sure Steven will provide an excellent answer to your question, but if you're impatient or want the details, he's written three books on how to write: The War of Art, Turning Pro, and Do The Work.
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1SG (Join to see)
Capt Brandon Charters You should find Gates of Fire an excellent read. It is on many military required reading lists, to include FL NG OCS.
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LCpl Steven Pressfield
Another great question that could be answered in a whole book. The one mistake that first-time writers who have served in the military make is they think that their experiences, by themselves, are so fascinating that all they have to do is recount them, A, B, C, in order and readers will be riveted. Of course it takes a lot more than that. I could talk for hours about this. The short version is that the aspiring writer needs to look at his or her experiences as if they happened to someone else. In other words, take the ego out of it. He or she must present their lessons or feelings or experiences with the same care that a writer of fiction would apply. Sorry this is so short an answer. It's such a deep question.
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