Writer Resources for 2018!
I’d like to share my best strategies and ideas for writing a book, a blog, or even an email … and not being stressed about it. I’m going to share things you can do, start doing, stop doing, and consider. You can consider each of them part of a huge menu (think: Cheesecake Factory), and you get to choose what makes sense and sounds good for you.
There’s no quick fix or magic bullet for writing. You have to sit yer arse in a chair and write. However, I do have some great resources to make your writing faster, easier, and better.
Let’s start with listening and reading. Listening to podcasts revealed to me a community of people who were writers of all kinds: fiction, non-fiction, prolific, aspiring, bloggers, freelancers, scriptwriters and more. Here are podcasts I think are top-shelf:
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The Smarty Pants Book Marketing Podcast (Chris Syme)
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The Self-Publishing Formula Podcast (Mark Dawson, James Blatch)
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Authority Self-Publishing (Steve Scott, Barrie Davenport)
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Wordslinger Podcast (Kevin Tumlinson)
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The Writer Files (Kelton Reid)
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The Author Hangout (Shawn Manaher)
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The Author Biz (Stephen Campbell)
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The Sell More Books Show (Bryan Cohen, Jim Kukral)
I don’t listen to every episode, but I listen to every one of these podcasts at least once a month. You might not like them all, but I suggest you give each one a try. Where can you find the time? Here’s when I listen:
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Doing housework (laundry or dishes, anyone)?
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Working out
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Driving
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Walking
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Shopping at the grocery store
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During my Miracle Morning
The most amazing thing about these podcasts is, if nothing else, you’ll hear your fellow writers share their best ideas. There’s something about listening to other people do what we want to do that can spur us on to our own success.
Now, on to reading.
Before I had author friends, I loved to learn from other writers and authors by reading their books and blogs. You can learn about craft and how to become a better writer. You can learn about marketing, everything from developing your author brand, and building fans, to how to sell more books. You can even discover writing methods and use them to develop a new series.
Here are just some of my favorite reads for writers:
Six Figure Author Chris Fox (and all of his books for writers)
And a few books that aren’t directly for writers, but have lots of great content:
For the cost of a very nice dinner, you can buy millions of dollars worth of knowledge in the form of books (books!) you can read (I know, reading is awesome!). That sounds like a delightful way to spend some time, don’t you think? I hope you’ll get started right away.
MORE GOOD STUFF…
~100 Great Articles to Read. I met James Clear a couple of years ago, and he’s continued to impress me with his writing. Some of his articles might be great for you, too, particularly this one on creativity.
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— Books, podcasts, recommendations