Thread by @FOB_Haiku

More than 60 @MilWritersGuild & other war-writers share #WhyWeWrite advice and insights! "Policy-making & pulp-fiction, journalism & history, poetry & plays!"

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Cover by @BattlefieldGD

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD One of the features editors originally planned for the @MilWritersGuild's #WhyWeWrite anthology was brief introductions of each of the 60+ essays. (Think "Bottom-Line Up-Front"!) This thread will be an attempt to re-create some of that concept. 1/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD In the introduction to #WhyWeWrite, @MilWritersGuild President @ChrisGIngram presents "military writing" as an inclusive community of practice, a "big tent" that covers writers of fiction, non-fiction, journalism, history, scholarship, policy analysis, and more. 2/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram The #WhyWeWrite anthology's first-of-four sections is "Calls to Action, Calls to Arms," and is loosely organized around stories of engaging either the public, or the "profession of arms," through writing. 3/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram In "Get Your Legacy in Writing," #WhyWeWrite co-editor @DoctrineMan makes the case for making one's mark in words, as well as deeds. "Most of us won’t write memoirs—frankly, we’re just not that interesting. But we all have experiences to share and lessons to pass on." 4/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan In "This Blog of Mine Goes Forth to War," #WhyWeWrite contributor William Treadway tells how his U.S. Army squadron chain-of-command once loved his blog about deploying to Afghanistan—until some of his words cut too close to home. Now, he writes fiction. And killer essays. 5/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan In "Pressing the Button," #WhyWeWrite essayist @jbyerly81 relates how he started the @FTGNotebook blog to exchange insights about military professionalism and leadership. 6/

Here's an excerpt: fromthegreennotebook.com/2019/11/29/why…

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook #WhyWeWrite contributor & U.S. Navy veteran @AN_Goldstein once wrote fiction and poetry in journals. Now, she writes in "How the World I Imagined Became Real: "Writing about what mattered to me began to mean writing about reforming the *institutions* that mattered to me." 7/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein In his #WhyWeWrite essay "Unraveling My Own Knowledge," U.S. Marine veteran @PhilKlay writes: "There is no form more perfect for expressing such conflicting feelings, ideas, moral sentiments, and experiences, than fiction." 8/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay #WhyWeWrite's @vanyaef shares how she discovered a whole new Clausewitz, via archival research that more fully revealed his editor wife. "Through Marie’s eyes, Clausewitz was not a distant genius or a vexing philosopher of war […] He was an imperfect man and a messy writer." 9/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef In his #WhyWeWrite essay "A Tall Ship … and a Story to Steer Her By," U.S. Navy aviator @McCainJack tells how his father's gift of a 1951 novel about British sailors in WWII, revealed the powers of story in a life of service, in creating bonds, and in weathering sacrifice. 10/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack In #WhyWeWrite, Marcia Byrom Hartwell writes "Bridging the Civil-Military Divide." She observed differences in styles & agendas as a U.S. Army civilian advisor in Iraq, 2009-2011. Wrote a book: “Negotiating Civil-Military Space: Redefining Roles in an Unpredictable World.” 11/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack Historian @WWATMD in #WhyWeWrite's "William Sims and Sailors as Scholars": "The sailors who really made a difference […] engaged in professional discourse well before they assumed the highest responsibilities of command. Our military and our nation are better for it." 12/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD In a creative approach to the #WhyWeWrite theme that the editors regarded as "practically poetry," @mil_LEADER 's founder Andrew Steadman's essay includes a rapid-fire of objectives, including: "I write seeking the positive, because negativity is exceedingly abundant." 13/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER In #WhyWeWrite, historian, door-gunner, & U.S. Army Nat'l Guard PAO @Msummerslowe writes "How I Fell in Love with AP Style, but Settled Down in Doctrine": "As long as I’m an Army writer, I’ll be with my soldiers, trying to find a disciplined voice in the chaos of ambiguity." 14/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe In his @MilWritersGuild #WhyWeWrite essay "Writing and our #Profession," Australian Army officer @WarintheFuture observes he's "a better soldier, a better leader, and a better person" because of his writing practices. Bonus: Check out #TheForgeWrites: ow.ly/qMAt30q15Ee 15/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture The #WhyWeWrite anthology's second-of-four sections is "War Stories." It includes authors' stories of writing successes … and lessons-learned. 16/

Buy the book in print & Kindle: amzn.to/2OZktFN

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture In "The Squeaky Wheel and The Expanded Universe," U.S. Marine veteran @kate_germano tells of finding a network: "military, veteran, and civilian alike—who shared my perspectives or were at least willing to have mutually respectful, professional conversations." #WhyWeWrite 17/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano In his essay "How I Write," U.S. Army veteran Robert L. Bateman cheekily offers some step-by-step advice about writing. "It is simple," he begins …
1. Become Obsessed
2. Love Words
#WhyWeWrite 18/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano In her #WhyWeWrite essay "The Proof is in the Jump," U.S. Army veteran Jocelyn Corbin tells of her encounters with "Sgt. Airborne" at parachuting school: "I wasn’t pushed," she writes. "I jumped." What does that have to do with writing? Everything. 19/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano In #WhyWeWrite's "Basic Training Teaches More than Marching and Maneuvers," U.S. Army veteran Ben Wilbert fondly remembers memorizing texts & writing letters home. "For some, these habits [...] awoke a latent interest in the written word, reading, and even for writing." 20/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano In "We Write Alone, but We Are Not Alone," U.S. Army veteran & author @JessicaScott09 says: "I write because the bulk of war fiction out there focuses on men’s stories, and I wanted to see my sisters on the page as the stars of the show, instead of a side note." #WhyWeWrite 21/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 In #WhyWeWrite's "Remembering Private First Class Hutson," former Dept. of State FSO Peter Van Buren witnesses a U.S. soldier's memorial service in Iraq. Van Buren later wrote a memoir, “We Meant Well,” about his time as a Provincial Reconstruction Team chief. 22/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 In "On First Drafts and Embracing the Suck," memoirist @DoctorFaz tells of revelation: "[I]n letting go of shame, I made room for joy and gratitude. The most surprising responses were from fellow Marines who said, 'you’re not alone; I have a story for you.'" #WhyWeWrite 23/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz In "Writing Myself to Sleep," U.S. Army veteran @goat_path interrogates himself on dark nights: "Through these conversations we can [...] hopefully, bridge the gap between veterans and civilians. To show that, despite our differences, we’re all just people." #WhyWeWrite 24/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path In "Writing as an Airman and as a Civilian," @matthew_komatsu says writers can focus on veterans' battlefield heroics, or the struggles they later face negotiating day-to-day living. "You can get all of the former on your own […] I’m here to deliver the latter." #WhyWeWrite 25/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu In "Finding 'Ashley's War,'" @GayleLemmon writes of Cultural Support Teams: "They were forever changed by the experience of serving at the tip of the spear at time when, officially, women remained banned from ground combat. And America had no idea they existed." #WhyWeWrite 26/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon In "Some True Lies about Conflict Reporting," @CarmenGentile writes: "For me, creating a compelling, true story—one of love of family and tribe and hate for your enemy—is its own addiction." #WhyWeWrite 27/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile In "The Three Pillars of T.E. Lawrence," @HalWilson_ seeks truths in "Lawrence of Arabia": "To be sure, Lawrence is not a perfect writer. His exuberance can grow exhausting; his descriptions [...] are sometimes inflated. (He was, after all, a staff officer.)" #WhyWeWrite 28/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ "I wanted [my soldiers] to be able to kill. However, I also wanted them to be able to understand the ethical challenge of killing," writes British Army veteran & @DEF_Aus director @helmandproject in "Armour Against Atrocity: Writing to Find One’s Moral Compass." #WhyWeWrite 29/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject Vietnam dustoff pilot Robert Robeson in "Beating the Muse into Submission": "A favorite adage among chopper jockeys in ’Nam […] is 'Helicopter pilots don’t fly. They just beat the air into submission.' I’ve applied this philosophy to my freelance writing career." #WhyWeWrite 30/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject In "Sharing Stories of Service Between Generations," U.S. Army pilot Chad Corrigan writes: "Like Grandpa Frank, I do not talk about the war much with my family. […] By writing, I can preserve it for when [my sons] are older [...] They deserve to know." #WhyWeWrite 31/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject In his #WhyWeWrite essay "Attention to Detail," @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore says the best stories are "specific and absurd." Like when a fellow @USNationalGuard soldier asked his CO in AFG: "Did you hear, O.A.R. is gonna be playing in Iowa City the week we get back?" 32/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard In #WhyWeWrite's "Recovering the Rhythm of War," Vietnam vet Bill McCloud tells how old letters sparked a book of poems: "Reading the letters anew [...] I was transported back in time and place: the incidents, big or routine, the details, the personalities, the emotions." 33/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard In his #WhyWeWrite essay "Making Sense of What Went Wrong," Jeremy Warneke reflects on the accidental death of a fellow Army MP at Abu Ghraib: "Some don’t like the idea of writing as therapy. […] To me, however, writing will always be driven by a psychological motivation." 34/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP helps veterans tell their stories via venues such as @thewarhorsenews & @TeamRWB. In #WhyWeWrite, he coaches: "Tell the reader what you went through and how you felt. [...] Confide in the reader, and they will connect with you on a level you can’t even believe." 35/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB The #WhyWeWrite anthology's third of four sections is "Building Bridges & Platforms": stories of how-to and inspiration toward building connections, communities, organizations, author platforms, and more!

Buy the book in print & Kindle: amzn.to/2OZktFN 36/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB Former U.S. Army Ranger Jonathan Baxter returned to Iraq as a PMC, and as a poet. In "Dreaming of Ishtar …" he writes: "I wrote about the way the city lights reflected off the Tigris River […] I wrote to give my life a meaning that it did not have at the time." #WhyWeWrite 37/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB In #WhyWeWrite's "'It' Shoots: Zen and Writing," poet & pilot @ShmoF16 is in the Zone: "'I’m skiing' is transformed into 'I *am* skiing.' There’s no separation between me & the snow & my poles & my boots & my skis. [...] it’s everything, all at once, at the same time." 38/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 In "I Left the CIA and Wrote a Satire of the War on Terror," @AlexZFinley says a co-worker balked at employee surveys—"terrorists aren't filling out any F@#$ing forms!" Finley thought: "What if terrorists *did* have to fill out forms? That would be hilarious." #WhyWeWrite 39/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley In his #WhyWeWrite essay "War is (Funny as) Hell," author & U.S. Army veteran @ImDavidAbrams says, "When writing 'Fobbit,' I tried to take advantage of [...] vulnerability to make a point about the hardships of war. I thought, If I can make them laugh, I can make them think." 40/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams In #WhyWeWrite's "How I Wrote 'World War Z,'" @maxbrooksauthor reveals his first zombie book was "essentially a disaster preparedness manual": "Be it wars or earthquakes, most people don’t die of direct violence. They die when that violence cuts their society lifeline." 41/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor In "Getting Lost On the Way to the Future," @PeterWSinger & @August_Cole discuss the utility of creating fictions filled with well-researched footnotes. "We set out to write a book that wouldn’t just peer into the potential future, but immerse readers in it." #WhyWeWrite 42/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole In "Three Lieutenants," a #WhyWeWrite short story, @RogerMisso provides a science-fiction parable on leadership, a peer-to-peer conversation set aboard a quantum drive star-carrier approaching Tau Ceti. Some things are timeless. 43/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso In #WhyWeWrite's "Making Military History Relevant through Fiction," novelist Kiki Watkins dives into a Union Army court martial & execution: "As a former interpreter and translator, I can take the reader on reasonable leaps toward a fair perception of what happened [...]" 44/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso In "The Warrior-Poet and an Unexpected Journey," @poetinpinkshoes finds refuge in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. "I saw that it was possible to write about the emotional landscape of my war, without writing about the physical landscape of my war." #WhyWeWrite 45/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes In "An Iraq War Veteran Reads the Iraq War," poet & U.S. Army veteran @HughJMartin considers the "other" via Shadid's "Night Draws Near": "Amidst the bombings, the destruction, the gradual and relentless movement of the war, life does, as much as it can, go on." #WhyWeWrite 46/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin In “Listen Up, Maggots! April is National Poetry Month!,” @FOB_Haiku says 21st century war poetry "connects us to the thin red line [...] Poetry puts us in the boots of those who have served before, hooks our chutes to a larger history and experience of war." #WhyWeWrite 47/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin In #WhyWeWrite's "Reach for the Skies," @KoriSchake talks about how she changes-up between short-form and long-form writing projects. "I liken the difference to being a relief pitcher, as compared to being a starting pitcher on rotation." 48/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake In "First, Write about a Barn," U.S. Navy veteran @JABell27 points to a well-known prompt while exploring the confidence she's found as an author: "Describe a barn as seen by a man whose son has just been killed in a war. Do not mention the son, or war, or death." #WhyWeWrite 49/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 In #WhyWeWrite's "Babylon Revisited," @TomRicks1 provides wisdom & perspective: "I had seen too many people suffer in and from Iraq. [...] I had lost friends. I no longer could see the capital’s actions as a 'game.' [...] It made me sick, and worse, made me sad." 50/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 The #WhyWeWrite anthology's last of four sections is "The Arts of War & Writing": stories of writing literary fiction, genre fiction, poetry, history, and more!

Buy the book in print & Kindle: amzn.to/2OZktFN 51/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 In "Why I Launch 'The Grenade,'" James Thompson tells of editing a veteran group newspaper: "The president was not home [...] so the editor called and left a message[:] 'I left the extra Grenades on your porch.' As luck would have it, he dialed the wrong number." #WhyWeWrite 52/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 In "Podcasts: Writing to be Heard," @Mick_Cook shares lessons in finding audiences, launching such projects as @DeadPrussianPod & @war4idiots. "Every soldier knows that after every 'ready, aim, fire,' you either correct your aim or change your target. I did both." #WhyWeWrite 53/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots In #WhyWeWrite's "Semper Write," @CarlForsling says Op-Ed essays can make a difference. "[W]riting in the Marine Corps Gazette is like putting a note in a suggestion box […] [A]fter one of my articles was published, I once got a call from the Commandant of the Marine Corps." 54/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots @CarlForsling In "The Power of Op-Eds: How to Inform & Influence," @SpencerGuard says opinion-writing success is all in how you apply the basics. "The same essay format I had learned in high school [...] was still the starting point." #WhyWeWrite 55/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots @CarlForsling @SpencerGuard In #WhyWeWrite's "Creating Better Alternatives," Phil Walter reveals the origins of @DivergentOption, a website that publishes articles that provide national security options, without advocacy, and assessments of national security situations, in 1,000 words or less. 56/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots @CarlForsling @SpencerGuard @DivergentOption In "My First War Novel," @rkambury tells how she was driven in high school to write a book. "In writing war stories, I learned that for almost every person who finds healing and understanding in the peaceful and the quiet, there is someone like me, who doesn’t." #WhyWeWrite 57/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots @CarlForsling @SpencerGuard @DivergentOption In "A Passage of Lines," veteran, teacher, & @lineofadvance editor Christopher Lyke talks about the magic of war writing: "[G]etting the words just right [...] is a powerful thing. [...] It’s the old magic. It’s an exorcism. And if it’s art, it is that, too." #WhyWeWrite 58/

@MilWritersGuild @beaverdalebooks @BattlefieldGD @chrisgingram @DoctrineMan @jbyerly81 @FTGNotebook @AN_Goldstein @PhilKlay @vanyaef @McCainJack @WWATMD @mil_LEADER @Msummerslowe @WarintheFuture @kate_germano @JessicaScott09 @DoctorFaz @goat_path @matthew_komatsu @gaylelemmon @CarmenGentile @HalWilson_ @DEF_Aus @helmandproject @IowaRedBulls @StevenLeeMoore @USNationalGuard @StrongerAtBP @thewarhorsenews @TeamRWB @ShmoF16 @alexzfinley @ImDavidAbrams @maxbrooksauthor @peterwsinger @august_cole @RogerMisso @poetinpinkshoes @HughJMartin @KoriSchake @JABell27 @tomricks1 @Mick_Cook @DeadPrussianPod @War4Idiots @CarlForsling @SpencerGuard @DivergentOption @lineofadvance In "It’s the Stories that Matter," Vietnam-era veteran Wayne Johnson contrasts two paths: "[I] chose to write [...] a novel rather than a memoir. While the content is based on actual events, fiction gave me more freedom to elaborate, and to add some humor." #WhyWeWrite 59/