“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” – E. B. White
👋 Hi! I’m Tom, and this is the Best Writing Newsletter (Issue #7).
Every Thursday, I send great reads, cool tools, jobs, tips, and friendly encouragement to do your best writing. If someone shared this with you, subscribe here.
The best thing about writing for me is going down rabbit holes on the topics I’m interested in.
I love getting lost, learning new things, and making unexpected connections that sometimes turn into my best writing.
But life is not all rainbows and sunshine.
Sometimes you must write to live, and the subjects you need to cover are boring.
What do you do?
You have two options.
- Toughen up and sell your soul for money.
- Say, “I won’t write it,” and own it.
It may sound hard and even impossible if someone hired you to write, but you can refuse to write about the things you don’t want to write about.
Even if it’s your president asking.
Here’s how E. B. White (the author of Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web) refused an invitation.
Here’s this week’s newsletter. 👇
⭐️ This Week’s Newsletter Is Supported by Scribd
Scribd is considered “the Netflix of books.” One subscription gives you access to over 1 million eBooks, audiobooks,
magazines, and documents. Available worldwide. Get your first month free.
👉 Read Unlimited Books for $0
Want to promote a product or service? Become a supporter.
Best Reads
Favorite stories from Writer News.
🏦 Managing Money as a Freelancer. Alexander Lewis, a freelance SaaS copywriter, shares how he manages money in surprising detail and transparency.
The business owner needs a new computer to run their company. They also earn $100,000 per year. Except the business owner can write off their computer as a business expense, meaning the purchase happens pre-tax.
💰 Doing $10,000/h Work. A popular online creator Khe Hy of RadReads tells how to identify the $10/h, $100/h, $1,000/h, and $10,000/h work and do more of the latter. It’s a powerful framework worth rereading every year.
🎨 The Busy Writer’s Design Toolkit. Most blogs still depend on tired old stock photography. But what if you could create unique, scroll-stopping visuals without any expense or real skill? Ryan Law, VP of Content at Animalz, explains how.
✍️ Quick Editing Tips for Writers. Stefanie Flaxman, the Editor-in-Chief at Copyblogger, shares editing tips for writers that don’t feel like chores.
✍️ Writer News is a new place for writers to share their work, get feedback, and discuss writing. It’s invite only. If you want one, respond to this email.
Interesting apps and software for curious writers.
Letterloop. Texting and social media can be exhausting. This neat tool lets you create group newsletters with friends and family to stay in touch, grow closer together, and discover things you never knew with the most important people in your life.
Art of Emails. Proven business email templates. Stop guessing what to say. Start getting replies and
yes.
1Feed. This app wants to become your quiet place on the internet, where you can focus on the people and content
you care about.
Clarity. Willem Butler built Clarity to help freelancers generate freelance contracts.
Writing Tip of the Week
Think about the distribution and format. Steph Smith, author, podcaster and writer, shares a powerful insight you can use to adjust your content strategy by tailoring your content to specific platforms.
Content is not monolithic. Each platform is unique.
- 📖 Blogs are like acquaintances
- 💌 Newsletters are like coworkers
- 🎤 Podcasts are like best friends
Build accordingly.
Best Writing Examples
Discover sharp copy, inspiring quotes, and powerful messaging from the best apps, websites, magazines, and books.
Cookie policy copy is a must-have on almost any website, and there’s little you can do. But if you pay attention to that little, you can make it different and memorable like Castor & Pollux.
Broken links are inevitable. Every interaction can be remarkable, whether a good or bad experience with your brand. Check this creative on-brand microcopy on Vimeo’s error page.
Here’s another error page example from Later. We like people (and brands) that are like us. Use the language your audience
can relate to and understand whenever you get the chance. Bonus points if it’s directly connected to your product and is funny.
Food for Thought
“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” – Seneca
“Happy people have the ability to distract themselves and move on, whereas unhappy people get stuck ruminating and make themselves more and more miserable.” – Barry Schwartz
“John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, says you aren’t a failure until you start to blame. What he means is that you can still be in the process of learning from your mistakes until you deny them.” – Carol Dweck
“Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life’.” – Helen Exley
“Wonder is the seed of knowledge.” – Francis Bacon
Did You Know?
There are hundreds of untranslatable words. Previously mentioned, Steph Smith created a useful online dictionary listing 500+ untranslatable words across 50+ languages. An untranslatable word itself,
Eunoia means “well-mind” or “beautiful thinking.” You can search the database by language, tag, or word. 🈂
Best Writing Jobs
Find your next writing job, freelance gig, or side hustle.
- Contract Content Writer at 37signals (Remote)
- Freelance Writer at Fingerprint for Success (Remote)
- Part-Time Associate Content Syndication Editor at IGN (Remote, US)
- Full-Time Technical Writer at Workato (Remote, US)
- Full-Time Health Writer at Found (Remote)
- Full-Time Content Writer at Wing Assistant (Remote)
💼 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 a lot of great content originally written by Ivan Kreimer for Content Fiesta, which we acquired
last month.
💁🏽♂️ We posted 30+ new jobs and added Alexis Turner and Emmanuel Musa to the writer’s directory (here’s
how to get listed if you’re a writer).
Did You Like the Newsletter?
😉 Please share it with a friend. Send them this link.
🤝 Want to get featured or collaborate? Send me your ideas, and I’ll respond. Yes, it’s me, a real person writing these emails.
☕️ Feeling generous? Tip $5. We’ll spend it on coffee.
💬 Want to become a supporter? Let’s talk.
Until next week,
Tomas Laurinavicius (your 🐰🕳 loving friend)
Co-founder, Best Writing (formerly Content Writing Jobs)
P.S. Expectations. 🎈
|
