“If you can write, you can write a book! Anyone can write a book!” The world of self-publishing has unleashed a torrent of advice like this, which has in turn spawned a flood of frustrated writers and unsold books. This sales pitch is the perfect expression of the Universal Writer Myth. It’s particularly dangerous and compelling because at […]
Writing
Writing Is Effort, Not Destiny
“I’m not a writer writer,” said my friend. I was puzzled. She has extensive experience as a technical writer and is paid to write for a living. People value her output. But her training and background is in engineering, so she doesn’t feel like she’s really a writer. Here’s a clue: if someone is paying you to […]
When Fear Interferes With Writing
One morning last week, I woke up with a crushing sense of doubt about the book I’m about to publish. The manuscript was with the editor, and I was starting the book launch phase. The first step is sending the book to people I know and trust for their feedback. This is when fear pushed into […]
How Much Research Should You Do?
How much research should you do? When do you stop? Are you ever really done? Nonfiction authors, workplace writers, and historical fiction writers generally write in their genres because they’re interested in the subject matter. It’s easy to get caught up in the research and never let go. Find your own balance between being diligent about researching and […]
Writing with Authority
How our speech patterns can undermine us when we write at work If you’ve ever had the experience of reading a transcript of yourself speaking in an informal setting, you might be horrified. Few of us speak in grammatically correct sentences. We ramble and leave sentences dangling. Worse, we fill empty space with um, er, you know, and the […]
Three Keys to Writing Copy That Sells More Books
[Update 2020: This is a rare guest post from the wonderful Chris Syme—a woman who shares my combined interests in books and marketing. First published in 2017, the advice is timeless. There is an updated version of her book, which is linked in this article.] Book descriptions, blurbs, social media posts, ad copy. Even though […]