By Kevin Cutright
Editor’s Note: Sign up for our May 3rd prospective writers webinar here. Not convinced? Read this piece.
I was one of about 15 attendees in From the Green Notebook’s webinar for prospective writers in early February. I joined because I admired some colleagues who had published items with them and I had some rough ideas of my own. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect but was curious.
The webinar exceeded my expectations, so much so that I’ve written this reflection piece (itself a product of the webinar). And, as you’ll see below, I’ve begun work writing an additional piece that I’m thinking about sending to FTGN for eventual publication.
From the Green Notebook plans to host another one of these webinars on May 3, 2024. You can sign up here. I encourage you to attend. Here are three reasons:
1. Professionalism. A professional seeks out wisdom wherever it can be found. Only insecure leaders insist on their own ideas. Be a part of the conversation that FTGN exists to promote.
2. FTGN’s motto: Lead with the best version of yourself. Writing prompts careful examination of your own experiences, crystallizes what they actually were, and solidifies what you should take from them. A sentiment attributed to writer Stephen King (among others) is, “I write to find out what I think.” It promotes a deeper, more thorough consideration of ideas and their supporting arguments. Ultimately, writing is a primary medium of one’s education because it requires so many judgments regarding the audience, the subject, and yourself, the speaker. Avoiding such reflection risks repeating errors and missing insights. If you have no time to reflectively write, that’s a red flag, especially as our organization’s most senior leaders seek to prioritize writing for the profession.
3. FTGN’s demeanor and coaching. I was really impressed with the writing webinar I joined. The tone was positive and candid; it was smoothly run and respectful of everyone’s time. And the prewriting exercise was quite productive. The exercise kicked off my reflections above and, I think, surprised many of us in unveiling the wisdom waiting to be gleaned from challenges we have each overcome.
One example from the three promising ideas that FTGN’s exercise gave me: what to do with Robert E. Lee. Here at West Point, I live in what used to be Lee Neighborhood, with Lee Road running through the middle. I have been glad to see the name changed and am embarrassed to admit how much I adopted the hero worship of Lee from my earliest days in uniform.
At the same time, I have struggled to express my rationale such that it might withstand the scrutiny of name-change critics. I have also wanted to accommodate the legitimate reasons for admiring Lee in terms of his tactical expertise and his sincere care for those under his leadership. I began to realize, thanks to the prewriting exercise, that the debate about Lee maps onto a debate in military ethics that I discuss with my students here at the US Military Academy.
In military ethics, we distinguish between the morality of going to war and the morality of the war’s conduct. The former is the responsibility of political leaders, while the latter is the responsibility of military service members. Compartmentalizing these decisions, however, has its limits, at least according to many. In examining Lee, it is insufficient to focus only on his prosecution of the Confederate military campaign. The point of that campaign matters, especially given Lee’s rank, experience, and voice that he could wield in public and private debates. In the final analysis, the cause we fight for matters just as much as how we fight.
That’s as far as I got in the pre-writing exercise. If I can follow through on the calendar scrub that the exercise ended with, then I might be able to finish this train of thought and make it worthy of your consideration.
Conclusion
Seriously consider attending the May writing webinar hosted by From the Green Notebook. There is wisdom in your experiences only revealed through writing; and there is an audience waiting to benefit.
Kevin Cutright is a retiring US Army Lieutenant Colonel who most recently served as an Academy Professor at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in the Department of English and Philosophy. He’s a career Field Artillery officer who has served two tours in Iraq, two tours in South Korea, and recently published The Empathetic Soldier.
These views are only those of Kevin Cutright and not the official views of the US Military Academy, the US Army, or any other entity of the federal government.
