Here’s how to make progress when writing comes easily — and also when it feels like a struggle. I need to start with this assumption: you know where the chapter you are working on fits into the book you are writing, and what its purpose is. You know what question the chapter is trying to…
I had a half-written book. It had languished for a while. I felt stuck. This is how I brought it back to life — without wasting all the work I’d done. Why my book was stuck A while back, I’d started a book titled How to Write a Business Book That Matters: A Comprehensive Guide…
You’re sitting staring and the page. You don’t know what to type. And the deadline is looming. Two words will break your trance: “Look, stupid.” Allow me to explain. What causes writer’s block This advice is for nonfiction writers only. (If you write fiction, you need advice from somebody else.) There are plenty of rational…
Do you know everything there is to know about the topic you’re writing about? If not, you’re not trying hard enough. I want you to be obsessed. This is not a recommendation to acquire a mental illness. Obsession is a strategy, and I want you to apply it strategically. Here’s how it works. You think…
My writer friends tell me they’re suffering from writer’s block. They’re not. Oh, sure, they’re unable to write anything useful, but “writer’s block” conjures up an inability to write for unknowable reasons. In fact, I know exactly why they can’t write. If you’re suffering from writer’s block, allow me to help diagnose your problem —…
Writing can be a joy or a chore. I thought of this as I saw this tweet from Raul Pacheco-Vega: “I’ve noticed something really funny: I struggle with putting words into paper, up until I reach a point where BOOM, the words just start pouring from my finger tips. Does this happen to you too?”…
“What am I going to write about?” That’s the content marketer’s constant challenge. In fact, the number of sources is endless. You just have to have the right mindset. Let’s remember what content marketing is. While there are any number of definitions out there, I think of it very simply: Content marketing is sharing something…
What should you do if you need to write something and you can’t seem to get started? The answer depends on what’s stopping you: lack of ideas, lack of material, or lack of the will to live . . . I mean, will to write. I thought about this when a participant asked it in…