This week I’ve been focusing on the Warrior Road, one of the four paths of the writer that I explore in Writing as a Sacred Path. It’s been a difficult topic—finding the warrior within has always been a challenge for me—but what great resources I have to offer on this Great Stuff for Writers Friday!
Warrior Poet: Writing as Full-Contact Lifestyle
Brian Hodge is the author of ten novels, over 100 short stories, four story collections, and this funny, charming, and utterly helpful blog at warriorpoetblog.com. “What’s on tap here is a look at writing, creativity, and storytelling through the multifaceted lens of the warrior poet ethos … the development of mind, body, and spirit as one,” Hodge writes.
Not only does Hodge build beautifully on the archetype of the warrior poet, but he does so with the perfect blend of humor and pragmatism. When a reader asks if there is a stage in life when a person who hasn’t made it should simply give up, he replies, “Yes. It’s that stage of life when you’re declared clinically dead.” How can you not love a blog that gives advice like that?
Living the Martial Way: A Manual for the Way a Modern Warrior Should Think
When I was researching the Warrior Road section of Writing as a Sacred Path, I read dozens of books on the warrior lifestyle. Forrest Morgan’s was one of the best. Living the Martial Way covers strategy, honor, training, spirituality, “the warrior mindset” and more.
The reviews of this book all treat it as if it’s meant exclusively for martial artists. I didn’t see it that way. I read it as a guide for living, and especially as a guide for living as a writer. Morgan writes:
Warriors are special people. Since they understand the concept of honor, they set their ethical standards above most of the rest of society. Since they pattern their lives around the pursuit of excellence, they tend to achieve in their chosen vocations. Why would people in today’s society want to think of themselves as warriors? Because warriorship is an extraordinary and powerful way to live!
If you’re interested in bringing that “extraordinary and powerful way,” into your writing life, this book is a must-read.
Warrior Writers
This organization (warriorwriters.org) may seem off-topic for a blog that’s focusing on the warrior as archetype, because it deals with the warrior as reality—with people who have experienced actual combat. But if you want to gain inspiration from the courage, discipline, and skill of the warrior, there’s no better place.
Warrior Writers is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to provide a creative community for artistic expression, and bear witness to the lived experiences of warriors.” They offer retreats, art exhibits, poetry readings, theatrical performances, and other artistic experiences all over the country. They’ve also published three works of poetry, prose, and visual artwork by post 9/11 veterans. Their website is nothing more than amazing, including clips from poetry readings, videos of performances, artists’ bios, and more.
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
No list of works on the warrior life would be complete without Chogyam Trungpa’s classic work. Trungpa takes the warrior’s path where no one else has: fully into the realm of spiritual development. “Warriorship is the condition of human bravery . . . the tradition of fearlessness,” he writes. “The key to warriorship and the first principal of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are.”
Isn’t that what writing is all about? Isn’t that what we’re all striving for?
Warrior Poet: Writing as Full-Contact Lifestyle
Brian Hodge is the author of ten novels, over 100 short stories, four story collections, and this funny, charming, and utterly helpful blog at warriorpoetblog.com. “What’s on tap here is a look at writing, creativity, and storytelling through the multifaceted lens of the warrior poet ethos … the development of mind, body, and spirit as one,” Hodge writes.
Not only does Hodge build beautifully on the archetype of the warrior poet, but he does so with the perfect blend of humor and pragmatism. When a reader asks if there is a stage in life when a person who hasn’t made it should simply give up, he replies, “Yes. It’s that stage of life when you’re declared clinically dead.” How can you not love a blog that gives advice like that?
Living the Martial Way: A Manual for the Way a Modern Warrior Should Think
When I was researching the Warrior Road section of Writing as a Sacred Path, I read dozens of books on the warrior lifestyle. Forrest Morgan’s was one of the best. Living the Martial Way covers strategy, honor, training, spirituality, “the warrior mindset” and more.
The reviews of this book all treat it as if it’s meant exclusively for martial artists. I didn’t see it that way. I read it as a guide for living, and especially as a guide for living as a writer. Morgan writes:
Warriors are special people. Since they understand the concept of honor, they set their ethical standards above most of the rest of society. Since they pattern their lives around the pursuit of excellence, they tend to achieve in their chosen vocations. Why would people in today’s society want to think of themselves as warriors? Because warriorship is an extraordinary and powerful way to live!
If you’re interested in bringing that “extraordinary and powerful way,” into your writing life, this book is a must-read.
Warrior Writers
This organization (warriorwriters.org) may seem off-topic for a blog that’s focusing on the warrior as archetype, because it deals with the warrior as reality—with people who have experienced actual combat. But if you want to gain inspiration from the courage, discipline, and skill of the warrior, there’s no better place.
Warrior Writers is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to provide a creative community for artistic expression, and bear witness to the lived experiences of warriors.” They offer retreats, art exhibits, poetry readings, theatrical performances, and other artistic experiences all over the country. They’ve also published three works of poetry, prose, and visual artwork by post 9/11 veterans. Their website is nothing more than amazing, including clips from poetry readings, videos of performances, artists’ bios, and more.
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
No list of works on the warrior life would be complete without Chogyam Trungpa’s classic work. Trungpa takes the warrior’s path where no one else has: fully into the realm of spiritual development. “Warriorship is the condition of human bravery . . . the tradition of fearlessness,” he writes. “The key to warriorship and the first principal of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are.”
Isn’t that what writing is all about? Isn’t that what we’re all striving for?