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 […]
Want to write better and faster and with more ease? Register for the Q1 2024 Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer workshop. That page has all the details. Free yourself from all the old rules that prevent you from writing fast and well. Never have the blank page problem. Instead, create ease with your writing. You
A French writer bought Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer and wasn’t sure what I meant by a “fieldstone.” He couldn’t find a translation that made sense to him. In Weinberg on Writing, Jerry explained fieldstones as a way to build a piece of writing, just like masons used blocks to build stone walls. The more
I had a great time discussing Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer with Mark Leslie Lefebvre on Episode 316 – Free Your Inner Non-Fiction Writer with Johanna Rothman. I met Mark back in 2017 when I attended an Anthology workshop from the nice folks at WMG Publishing. I sold two short stories at that workshop, my
Brian Okken interviewed me on his Test and Code podcast here: Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer. We spoke about writing in many forms: books, blog posts, and how to start. We discussed many writing topics, but I had a small rant about waiting to edit when you’re cooled down. No! Write, edit, and publish when
When I published Writing Secret 9: Keep Your Writing Clean As You Write, the feedback surprised me. Many of my fellow nonfiction writers write a lot before they get internal feedback. That might be right for them. It’s not right for me. I finally understood why I write differently. I think of each iteration as
Some writers suggest you write sloppy, “vomiting” the words onto the page. They think all writers need to start with “shitty first drafts.” But sloppy writing means you need several drafts to clean up the sloppiness. To me, that’s like waiting until the end of coding to write and run any tests at all. (Been
One of the themes that runs through the Successful Independent Consulting: Relationships That Focus on Mutual Benefit is: “Invite people to your newsletter.” Why? Because those people gave you permission to market to them. Your subscribers don’t have to like everything you write—as long as they like most of what you write. Or that you
Back when I wrote Writing Secret 5: Decide on One Ideal Reader, I suggested there was one primary reader and other secondary readers. That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete. Nonfiction writing causes people to decide, rethink, or change their actions, all a change of some sort. That means the ideal reader for a given piece
Alex Kourvo, of Writing Slices, just reviewed Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer. (That’s a link to her review.) She recommends it with four stars! Woo! Here are two excerpts I particularly enjoyed: “Rothman takes these brand-new writers by the hand with a guide full of wisdom, empathy, and truth.” “… is a wonderful, gentle guide”