The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novel

117 Pages·2013·0.71 MB·English

by  Steven Pressfield

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COPYRIGHT © 2013 BY STEVEN PRESSFIELD
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ART BY STEVEN PRESSFIELD
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
FOR PERMISSION TO REPRINT THE PHOTO OF BOBBY JONES
AND WALTER HAGEN ON PAGE 73.
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EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-936591-07-8
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ALSO BY STEVEN PRESSFIELD
FICTION
The Profession
Killing Rommel
The Afghan Campaign
The Virtues of war
Last of the Amazons
Tides of War
Gates of Fire
The Legend of Bagger Vance
NONFICTION
The Lion’s Gate (2014)
Turning Pro
The Warrior Ethos
Do the Work
The War of Art
For Phil ,
and for Henry
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: FINDING THE IDEA
PART TWO: HOW A WRITER THINKS
PART THREE: WRITING IT
PART FOUR: THE AUTHENTIC SWING
PART FIVE: THE MOVIE
PART SIX: WRITE THE NEXT ONE
GOLFERS & WRITERS
T
his book is intended more for writers than for golfers. It’s about the writing
process. However, golf is the subject of my first novel, The Legend of Bagger
Vance, so a word or two may be useful as we start.
Someone very wise once observed that golf is different from other sports in
that, viewed from the outside, by someone who has never played it, the game
looks utterly lame and incomprehensible. Golf? Please. It just seems dumb. A
country club pastime indulged in by rich white guys in plaid pants.
The same cannot be said about skiing, say, or sky-diving, or even baseball.
From the outside, these sports look like fun. We get it. We don’t have to play the
sport to understand its appeal.
Nor has golf been well served by movies, including the movie of The Legend
of Bagger Vance. Only wild-and-crazy lampoons like Caddyshack and Happy
Gilmore have fared well, or deserved to. Every time a filmmaker attempts a
serious take on golf, the effort sinks without a trace.
On the other hand, if we’re fair, we must admit that numerous highly
sophisticated athletes, legends in sports other than golf—Michael Jordan, say, or
John Elway, or Wayne Gretzky—are themselves passionate, and even obsessive,
adherents of the game. Are you gonna tell Michael Jordan he’s crazy? Me
neither. The non-golfer must acknowledge, however grudgingly, that though he
himself might not get it, perhaps there is something to this game after all.
So please, dear reader, as you venture into these pages, do so with an open
mind. Bear with me. I promise I will try to craft the experience in such a way as
to render this incomprehensible game at least slightly comprehensible, or as
comprehensible as is possible to us mortals.
PART ONE
FINDING THE IDEA