In my most recent writing workshop, one writer, Suzy, had a little trouble staying focused for an entire 15-minute writing session. (For my recommended writing process, see Writing Secret 12: Subheadings Help Guide Readers Through Your Content for how I use 15-minute timeboxes.) Suzy realized she could not always write forward. Sometimes, she had to […]
Do you want to write better and faster? Make your writing easier? You can—and you do not need to use AI to make your writing easier, better, or faster. Instead, enroll in my Q2 2025 Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer workshop. You can start the prework as soon as you register. Then, the workshop starts
While I’m an extrovert (words just come out of my mouth sometimes), I’m not always comfortable speaking with people I don’t yet know. However, I want to make a real connection with other people. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing, speaking, or networking. I still want that real connection. I use stories and examples to
Many writers struggle with perfection. They interrupt themselves with editing and trying to make the writing “perfect.” In their pursuit of perfection, they don’t finish and publish. But not publishing creates two problems: Not publishing means the writer receives no feedback. Sometimes, that means the writer stops writing. Worse, the writer continues to try to
You’ve written something. But before you hit “publish” you’re worried about how some readers will react. Will they like what you wrote? Will they dislike it? The answer is “yes” to both. That’s because each reader has a different context. If you write to one ideal reader, you have a good shot of finding readers
I’ve opened registration for the Q1 2025 Writing Workshop. See Writing Workshop 1: Free Your Inner Writer & Sell Your Nonfiction Ideas for all the details. I’ve structured the workshop so you practice writing. Each week, you write something and send it to me. I’ll offer you personal feedback. In addition, I add a general response
Many of my consulting and job-searching colleagues feel stuck in finding clients or jobs. Social media used to work, but it doesn’t anymore. But people actually have more options for discoverability (aka marketing) than ever before. That’s writing, speaking, and connecting people who might not know about each other. The more we write, speak, and
My Q3 2024 writing workshop is now open for registration. The workshop is based on my bestselling book, Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer. You’ll learn how to write faster and better by integrating thinking and learning as you write. Even better, you’ll learn how to postpone editing until you’re done explaining the ideas. Yes, effective
After I delivered a talk about product management, Fred, a prospective writer, asked a question. He said, “It seems like there are no new ideas. How can I write something that’s already been done before?” I said, “Write your truth, your experiences. Don’t worry about what’s come before.” He said, “But someone already wrote that.”
I read a lot online. And I love it when writers offer me subheadings to break up the content into consumable chunks. But not every writer does that. When writers don’t use subheadings, I have to work to grasp the key ideas in the piece. The more text between subheadings, the less likely I will