4min chapter

#642: Steven Pressfield on Going from Truck Driver to Bestselling Novelist, Overcoming Self-Sabotage, Building Momentum, Dancing with the Muse, Turning Pro, and Letting Your Underground River Flow

The Tim Ferriss Show

notes

CHAPTER

The Power of the Name

The first two short fiction pieces are live in audio form on something called the cock punch podcast. You can find them at cockpunch.com slash podcast or wherever you find your podcasts, just look for cockpunch and it'll be there. It debuted at number one in the fiction category and has been top 100 of all podcasts on Apple podcasts since it came out.

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Transcript

Episode notes

Brought to you by MasterClass online video lessons taught by 180+ of the world’s best, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.

Steven Pressfield (@SPressfield) was 52 years old before his first novel was published. Since then, he has written the million-sellers Gates of Fire and The War of Art, as well as The Legend of Bagger Vance, A Man at Arms, and many others. His newest book, the memoir Govt Cheese, is about those years before that first publication. It is coming out on December 30th, and you can pre-order signed copies here.

Please enjoy!

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[05:51] Ambition in a halfway house.

[09:30] Evanescent dreams.

[10:37] Helpful self-delusions.

[13:28] What’s in a name?

[19:18] Trimming fiction’s fat beyond the first draft.

[22:06] The Paul Rink method of maintaining Blitzkrieg momentum.

[25:48] Other pearls of Paul Rink perspicacity.

[28:08] A transition from aspiring fiction writer to prolific author.

[32:05] A hint from Hemingway.

[33:15] Positive self-delusion.

[35:26] Writing fiction isn’t self-indulgence. It’s an obligation.

[40:44] How does writing fiction fit into my life? Is it a top priority?