Heard you need constant improvement to become a master? Heard you need those 10,000 hours of practice? It’s hogwash. A goal of ‘constant improvement’ won’t lead to success. I learned this when I signed up for Damn Fine Words, James Chartrand’s writing course. Signing up excited me. I was excited because I was taking action [...]
How Achieving Your Goals Kills Your Motivation
Written by Patrick Vuleta - 21 Comments
How to Stop Writing Boring Blog Posts
Written by Demien Farnsworth - 34 Comments
It’s been done tens of millions of time: a blog post is written. Someone has an idea to share with the world. Someone has a beef and they want to rant. Someone writes an inspiring poem. Because of the glut of so many posts, blog posts have become boring. When I scroll through my reader, [...]
Should You Write with Your Head or Your Heart?
Written by Ali Luke - 11 Comments
Have you ever looked over a piece of your writing, only to realize that something’s missing? It’s so easy to get caught up in all the tips, tricks and techniques: Write a great headline – a number, adjectives, a clear promise Have a gripping introduction to draw the reader in Make sure you spell out [...]
Is It Time to Clean Up Your Tribe?
Written by Annika Martins - 9 Comments
This quote has been stalking me for weeks now: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”- Jim Rohn It gets me. It really gets me. And here’s why: In the business books and blogs we all love, there is constant talk of finding our ‘tribe’, our most ideal [...]
Are You Building a Business That Stinks?
Written by Taylor Lindstrom - 7 Comments
It’s the middle of summer. You’re going camping, and you have the option of two campsites. One is by a running stream. The other is by a pond. Which do you choose? If you’ve ever had a run-in with mosquitoes before, you pick the stream. Running water doesn’t allow algae and rotten leaves to collect [...]
Why You Should Never Write Like You Talk
Written by Taylor Lindstrom - 37 Comments
The worst piece of writing advice I ever heard was to write the way I talk. The next time you have a conversation, listen to yourself. If you wrote the way you talked, your writing would be riddled with space-filler words and phrases such as “like” and “um” and “you know what I mean?” You’d [...]
What Hunter S. Thompson Can Teach You About Powerful Writing
Written by Paul Jun - 33 Comments
Hunter S. Thompson was the creator of Gonzo Journalism – or as he called himself, “the doctor of journalism” – and the writer of the infamous books Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, and The Rum Diary. Thompson was known for his drug frenzy-filled stories, his use of powerful verbs [...]
5 Reasons Not to Criticize First Drafts
Written by Matt Herron - 18 Comments
We are our own worst critics. One of the most daunting tasks facing writers is the task of finishing the rough draft. For many writers, the rough draft is the hardest part because they don’t know how to shut off the critical part of their brain and just finish it. Instead, they nitpick. They rewrite [...]
The Difference between Simple and Easy – And Why It Matters to Bloggers
Written by Aman Basanti - 24 Comments
Simple and easy are often used interchangeably, and in many cases they are. But simple and easy are different words with different meanings. What is simple is not always easy. This is an important distinction, because we often look for so-called ‘secrets’ the probloggers guard only to find that what they do is fairly simple [...]
How to Spam Yourself to Success
Written by Fitjerk - 23 Comments
Ladies and gentlemen, I have done it. I have found the ultimate secret to success. The magic bullet, if you will. It’s a precise method that takes you from where you are now (nowhere) to where you want to be (pool side, surrounded by beautiful individuals and sipping on something that’ll get you very intoxicated). [...]
