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on writing and social media
The old writer vs content creator battle. Writing captions on Instagram every day is not only a great exercise to improve concision, conversational writing, and effective conveyance of messages, it also builds an audience for my writing. But…
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how to behave like a writer
Is there such a thing? Have you ever thought about what a writer should look like or how they should behave? I mean, style, clothes, way of speaking, manners? You might paint this romantic picture of a perfect writer, wearing hipster clothes, having a coffee near a typewriter, maybe smoking cigarettes, pounding the keys, and writing their next masterpiece, with a window near them, a pile of paper gradually forming a manuscript. Maybe you think that a writer speaks perfectly, no grammar mistakes in their speech, having the perfect words at hand to describe everything they do. These are stereotypes but I won’t lie to you and say I didn’t…
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What does it mean to be a writer?
Hey there. What do you think it means to be a writer? Don’t just rely on a dictionary definition. What DOES it mean? As far as I can tell, it’s not about putting words down on a page. No way. It’s more than that. Writing is about using words with a purpose, in a particular way, for a particular effect. And when you think like that, wow, the roads to where you can go become infinite, and they are free and soft to ride. You bet. I’m gonna borrow some of Will Blythe’s words in the intro of a book called “Why I Write” (I’m reading it). He said you…
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What do to while walking when you’re a writer
Hey Reader, This morning on Instagram, I posted a few things you can do in a 30-minute walk. I think it’s a perfect exercise. At least I prefer that to running. As a writer, there are some pretty interesting benefits in what you can do while walking, too. Here’s a list of what we could do: 1. Observe the surroundings You only get the actual idea of paths, walking distance, buildings, and all, if you take a walk. My current work in progress is set around my neighborhood, and I got interesting insights while walking around. Umberto Eco said once that he would go to a place and study everything…
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The Morning Miracle for Writers
Last week we talked about the miracle morning, and I received many messages about applying that to writing. Well, there’s a book by Hal Elrod and Steve Scott, with Honorée Corder, called “The Miracle Morning For Writers”. I highly recommend you to read it because it’s exactly about that subject and a little more. I found interesting tips there that have nothign to do with waking up at 5 AM. James Altucher wrote the foreword. He’s currently one of my favorite entrepreneurs and nonfiction writers, and he wrote: “I follow a morning routine for my writing. If I didn’t, I would never write. (…) I wake up, I exercise, I…
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Good writers will always break your heart
You have a favorite author. You read everything they write and whenever there’s a new book by them, you buy it, no questions asked. Truth is that one day they will disappoint you. But they will do that because they’re good writers. They may repeat a formula and end up making their books feel the same and not interesting. But there’s something different in all of them. They may try something new other than their usual historical or science fiction and write a bad book of fantasy. But they tried to navigate other seas. You might find their early works and notice how not so good they were. Their failures…
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On writing and its process
Yesterday, we talked about reading as a superpower that we are born with. There’s another superpower that manifests as soon as Reading is switched on in our lives. It’s writing. Writing is a superpower that allows you to do whatever you want to yourself and your reader. I mean, by using symbols and composing sentences out of words and with them to make paragraphs that make stories and narratives and descriptions and ideas, you can provoke and print anything in your reader’s mind even if you’re the only one who’s gonna read what you wrote. The writing process is cruel though. I dare to repeat myself, using the same idea…
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How to start writing in 2021
You woke up on January 1st with a fixed idea. You wanna be a writer. Alright, this happened to me a few years ago and I know a couple of things that can help you with your goal. But first, know that being a writer is not what you think. You’re not gonna just sit today in front of a typewriter, computer, or paper and write one of the classics of 30 years from now or the next bestseller just because you want it. Well, you might, though. But chances are this is not gonna happen and you have to be aware of that before you start it. You’ll have…
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Are you a writer?
Being a writer is not easy. I’m not talking about the craft. Writing as a craft is a skill you can hone if you practice and put a lot of effort into it. It’s easy to nurture and develop if you work on good routines and techniques. Of course, it takes time but you know what I mean. What I’m talking about, though, is the state of being a writer. It’s definitely not easy. That is because it depends on your mindset for it to work. I see a lot of people saying they’re “aspiring writers”. And some aspiring writers quit writing because, at some point, they think of themselves…
