9 Essential Books That Will Transform Your Writing Forever

Marsha Stopa 143 Comments Last Updated Sep 11, 2016

Admit it.

You have several half-read writing books stacked up on your nightstand, several more squirreled away in a desk drawer and a dozen more on your Amazon wish list.

You scrutinize all the books that “customers also bought” looking for those one-of-a-kind books that will transform you into a great writer. You jump “inside the book” to read the table of contents and credits and page through the free preview.

Searching for the magic formula.

The formula that will erase the silent self-doubt. The nagging thought that you’re not quite good enough as a writer.

Books have an uncanny power to teach us, to transport us, to move us light years beyond our ordinary lives. If we could only find the right books, the tried-and-true books written by trusted masters. So we keep looking.

And once in a while you find a writing book that speaks to your heart and gets to the core of what you’re struggling with right now. It changes you. It changes your writing. It changes your life.

Because mastering the craft of writing depends upon your continuing education as a writer. It means you regularly upgrade and fine-tune your skills.
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Motivation/ Popular/ Writing

Writer’s Block: 27 Ways to Crush It Forever

Henneke Duistermaat 134 Comments Last Updated Jul 8, 2016

Let me guess…

You’re staring at the blank screen. Your brain is fried. You can feel a headache coming on.

You know you should be writing, but…

You can’t do this anymore. Your muse is gone. Your well of inspiration is empty. Finished. Stone-dry.

You’re not just bored or tired. No, no. This is far worse:

Writer’s block.

You try to stop your mind wandering off. You try to stop being distracted by your long to-do-list. You try to write, but you feel like everything you do manage to jot down is… well… terrible.

You know you have to keep going, but how? How can you get back into your writing groove?

The truth:

You need to have some fun.

Not take a break, not go for walk, not get some sleep. All of that is fine and good for a simple case of boredom, but the real cause of writer’s block is you’re holding on too tight.

You need to loosen up. You need to go a little crazy. You need to let the goofy side of you out for a little while and get your creative juices flowing again.

Here are 27 refreshingly original ways to get you started:
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Beginners/ Mistakes/ Writing

21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your First E-book

Ali Luke 102 Comments Last Updated Jun 25, 2017

Admit it.

You’ve thought about writing an e-book.

In fact, you’ve already imagined the front cover.

You can see the main title, and underneath, your name.

And when you picture it, you feel a ripple of pride.

An e-book would be a big step up for you as a writer.

Because while blog posts are a great way to express your ideas, you can’t help feeling they’re a little, well, fleeting. Lightweight even.

Whereas an e-book is more substantial. It’s taken more seriously. It has more gravitas.

And having an e-book with your name on the front transforms you from a mere blogger into that more impressive beast – an author.

But how do you become an e-book author without falling victim to the same mistakes that sabotage the attempts of so many other bloggers?
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Standing out/ Writing

Why Most “How to” Posts Suck (and How to Write Great Ones)

Jon Morrow 80 Comments Last Updated Apr 28, 2016

Once upon a time, “how to” posts were a blogger’s bread-and-butter.

The idea was simple. People want to know how to do stuff, and if you teach them how, you’ll get lots of traffic.

And it was true… for a while.

This post from 2007 is a great example:

How to Cook Brown Rice

For years, it was the most popular post on Steve’s mega-popular blog. It continues to rank well in the search engines today.

But here’s an interesting question…

If Steve published that post in 2016, would it still be as popular and get as much traffic?

The answer is no. Absolutely not.

Here’s why:
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Beginners/ Writing

10 Writing Tips You Absolutely Won’t Have Heard Anywhere Else Before

Ali Luke 102 Comments Last Updated Apr 21, 2016

Aren’t you tired of the same old writing tips?

You know, tips like:

Write every day without fail.
Find your best time of day to write.
Avoid distractions like Facebook and email.
Use a timer to work in short bursts, followed by a break.

Yes, they’re tried and tested. But chances are, you’ve either taken all of these on board already — or you’ve given them a go and found they simply don’t work for you.

And that’s why you need to try something different — a new approach to jolt your writer’s brain out of its rut and send it reeling in promising new directions.

So here are ten writing tips I bet you won’t have heard before. (If I’m wrong, tell me in the comments!)

They cover every stage of the writing process, from coming up with ideas to proofreading the finished product to staying motivated for the long haul.

Ready to be surprised?
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