“People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.” – Anne Frank
👋 Hi! I’m Tom, and this is the Best Writing Newsletter (Issue #2).
Every Thursday, I send great reads, cool tools, jobs, tips, and friendly encouragement to do your best writing.
Want to engage your audience better?
Embrace your weirdness.
One thing that bothers me is generic writing. We lack opinions.
People mimic each other on social media.
Businesses publish recycled content to keep up with the competition.
All that writing creates noise, distractions and leads to zero engagement.
For you, my writer friend, generic writing leads to frustration and even thoughts of changing careers when no one cares about what you have to say.
I want your opinion, reasoning, and curiosity.
Most of the writers I follow have strong opinions.
While I don’t agree with everything, I admire their courage to think differently and own it. You can’t say something and then chicken out when someone challenges your opinion.
Even if it leads to public failures, mistakes, or, worst of all, changing your mind.
How to have an opinion?
Do the work of forming an opinion.
Think, research, and consider different angles. Challenge yourself by talking to people you disagree with.
“All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.” – Douglas Adams
Once you’ve formed an opinion and researched an angle, marinate it.
Leave it in the background, and let your mind do the work while you sleep, take walks, or shower.
😜 That’s just my opinion. You do you. Be you.
What’s the most opinionated writer you follow?
⭐️ This Week’s Newsletter Is Supported by Keyword Surfer
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Best Reads
Favorite stories from Writer News.
❌ Headline Mistakes. Cynthia Marinakos, an Aussie copywriter, shows how to fix the most common headline mistakes, including 30 examples.
🤑 Blogging Money. An experienced blogger, Himanshu Gupta, shares specific examples and explains how to make blogging money.
I’ll spoil it for you, it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
✍️ Write 5X More but Write 5X Less. Mike Crittenden, an Engineering Manager at GitHub, argues that the average person should write 5x more things than they do, and the average written thing should be 5x shorter.
🤔 12 Problems. While following my curiosity is fun and games, I want to build a company that helps writers make a living, pays my bills, and allows me to create even more. Inspired by John Nicholas, I decided to write and share my 12 favorite problems.
✍️ Writer News is a new place for writers to share their work, get feedback, and discuss writing. If you want an invite, respond to this email.
Interesting apps and software for curious writers.
Alfread. Saved 99 articles but haven't read one? Then Alfread is for you. It helps you to actually
read articles. Or skip them. No pressure.
Language, Please. Here’s a free style guide and a living resource for journalists and storytellers
seeking to thoughtfully cover evolving social, cultural, and identity-related topics.
Smarkup. This productivity-focused app lets you create a workspace to write things down and multitask between
notes, to-do lists, and meeting agendas.
CTA Examples. Yucel made this page with everything you need to create conversion-boosting CTAs for
any marketing goal. You'll create a call-to-action's so good, even your grandma will click on it.
Writing Tip of the Week
Use feedback every time you write. Everyone talks about the importance of feedback, but not many show how to implement it.
Sarah Greesonbach, the founder of B2B Writing Institute, shares a neat little trick that will turn you into a writer that never misses details and considers all the feedback. 📝
When you receive lots of written feedback (sometimes from many different people), create a "Feedback Matrix" and put it at the top of your doc.
Capture each piece of feedback individually and add a comment about why you declined it or what change you made.
Clients and stakeholders can see exactly how you incorporated their feedback, and nothing gets lost.
Best Writing Examples
Discover sharp copy, inspiring quotes, and powerful messaging from the best apps, websites, magazines, and books.
Remix a famous proverb, common saying, or phrase and adapt it to appeal specifically to your audience. Like this headline on the Buy Me a Coffee homepage, remixing “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Explaining new things can be complicated. Try to add side notes as Weavit does here with hand-written notes and arrows
providing more context to their product's key features.
Don't just write words. Write music. Here's an illustration of profound writing advice by Gary Provost, an American writer, and writing instructor. Shared by David Perell.
Food for Thought
"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." – Mark Twain
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." – Benjamin Franklin
"I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in." – Robert Louis Stevenson
“Work like hell! I had 122 rejection slips before I sold a story.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.” – Chinese proverb
“Finished crap can be edited. Unfinished greatness languishes forever. The only bad writing is the thing you didn't write!” – Margarita Gakis
Did You Know?
Vladimir Nabokov preferred reading and writing in the privacy of a parked car,
always writing on index-cards, a portable strategy that allowed him to compose on the move while his wife drove him around on his adored butterfly expeditions. 🚗
Where writers write? Discover the weird and wonderful writing sanctuaries of
your favorite authors.
Best Writing Jobs
Find your next writing job, freelance gig, or side hustle.
- English Content Writing Internship at Viatu (Remote)
- Full-Time Personal Finance Editor at DebtHammer (Remote, US)
- Full-Time Product Content Writer at Headout (Bengaluru, India)
- Full-Time Grant Writer at SecondMuse (Remote, US)
- Full-Time Content Writer at Lamudi (Makati, Philippines)
- Full-Time Content Writer at VenturePunk (Remote)
- Part-Time UX Writer at Hubs (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Freelance Blog Writer at LinkedIn (Remote, US)
- Full-Time Technical Writer at Guidewire Software (San Mateo, US)
💼 Check all open roles or become a member to get daily job alerts.
Hiring writers? Use the code “FIRSTJOB” at checkout to get $100 off your first job post.
What’s New at Best Writing?
📰 We published new articles and interviews:
💁🏽♂️ Last week, we posted 30+ new jobs. Added George Araman, Nikita Kukreja, Jebichii Kimulwo, and
Precious Oboidhe to the writer directory (here’s how to get listed
if
you’re a writer) and worked on migrating everything to the new site.
Did You Like the Newsletter?
Please share it with a friend. 😉
Want to get featured or collaborate? Send me your ideas, and I’ll respond. Yes, it’s me, a real human being writing these emails.
Feeling generous? ☕️ Tip $5. We’ll spend it on coffee.
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Until next week,
Tomas Laurinavicius (aka, unapologetically myself)
Co-founder, Best Writing (formerly Content Writing Jobs)
P.S. This escalator is refusing to escalate. 🚠
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