You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

Best-selling author and creativity expert Jeff Goins dismantles the myth that being creative is a hindrance to success by revealing how an artistic temperament is in fact a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

In June of 1999, Stephen King was hit by a van while walking along the shoulder of a country road in Maine. Six operations were required to save his life and mend his broken body. When he was finally able to sit up, he immediately started writing. This book - part biography, part a collection of tips for the aspiring writer - is the extraordinary result.

Being a writer is not just about typing. It's also about surviving the rollercoaster of the creative journey. Self-doubt, fear of failure, the need for validation, perfectionism, writer's block, comparisonitis, overwhelm, and much more. When you're going through these things, it can feel like you're alone. But actually, they are part of the creative process, and every author goes through them too.

The path to your life's work is difficult and risky, even scary, which is why few finish the journey. This is a book about discovering your life's work, that treasure of immeasurable worth we all long for. It's about the task you were born to do. Through personal experience, compelling case studies, and current research on the mysteries of motivation and talent, Jeff shows listeners how to find their vocations and what to expect along the way.

In September 2011, I left my corporate job to become a full-time author and creative entrepreneur and since then I've grown my business year by year, all based on my writing. More importantly, I'm finally living the happy life I always wanted. I'm not a Kindle or blogging millionaire and this is not a get rich quick scheme. But I will share with you how I make a multi-six-figure income from writing books, blogging and marketing in an ethical manner.

“Writing is a craft you can learn,” says Roy Peter Clark. “You need tools, not rules.” In this essential guide, Clark distills decades of experience into fifty tools that writers of all kinds can use every day. You may be crafting a newspaper story or an admissions essay for college. You may be writing a technical report or drafting your first novel. You may be a student or a teacher, a poet or a critic, a columnist or a blogger. You may be preparing a PowerPoint presentation or penning a love letter.

Have you written a story with an exciting concept and interesting characters - but it just isn't grabbing the attention of readers or agents? It's time to look deeper into the story beats that create realistic and compelling character arcs. Internationally published, award-winning novelist K.M. Weiland shares her acclaimed method for achieving memorable and moving character arcs in every book you write.

Do you want to write but can't seem to get started? Are you struggling to finish your novel or frustrated by your slow progress? Perhaps you are starting to worry that you aren't cut out for the writing life.... Let best-selling novelist and host of the Worried Writer podcast Sarah Painter show you how to skip past negativity, free-up writing time, cope with self-doubt, and beat procrastination. Packed with honest, supportive, and hard-won advice, this is your practical guide to getting the work done.

"Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a land mine. The land mine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces back together. Now, it's your turn. Jump!" Zest. Gusto. Curiosity. These are the qualities every writer must have, as well as a spirit of adventure. In this exuberant book, the incomparable Ray Bradbury shares the wisdom, experience, and excitement of a lifetime of writing. Here are practical tips on the art of writing from a master of the craft - everything from finding original ideas to developing your own voice and style.

Bringing together the imaginative strategies of fiction storytelling and new ways of narrating true, real-life events, creative nonfiction is the fastest-growing part of the creative writing world. It's a cutting-edge genre that's reshaping how we write (and read) everything from biographies and memoirs to blogs and public speaking scripts to personal essays and magazine articles.

At the root of all creative expression is a deep, inborn, and very human desire to be heard and understood. Ask yourself this simple question: why write at all? Once you've managed to answer this question for yourself, you'll have found something that will be incredibly valuable to your writing career, wherever it takes you: your purpose. Tapping into the deep roots of why you are compelled to write at all is a brilliant way to unlock your true motivations and your ultimate reason for writing.

Expanding on the author's highly successful process for doubling daily word counts, this audiobook - a combination of reworked blog posts and new material - offers practical writing advice for anyone who's ever longed to increase their daily writing output.

Why do some stories work and others don't? The answer is structure. In this IPPY and NIEA Award-winning guide from the author of the bestselling Outlining Your Novel, you will discover the universal underpinnings that guarantee powerful plot and character arcs. An understanding of proper story and scene structure will help you to not only perfectly time your story's major events, but will also provide you with an unerring standard to use in evaluating your novel's pacing and progression.

We all want to live a life that matters. We all want to reach our full potential. But too often we find ourselves overwhelmed by the day-to-day. Our big goals get pushed to the back burner - and then, more often than not, they get forgotten. New York Times best-selling author Michael Hyatt wants listeners to know that it doesn't have to be this way. In fact, he thinks that this is the year listeners can finally close the gap between reality and their dreams.

With color, irony, and sensitivity, Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard illuminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that is the writer’s life. As it probes and exposes, examines and analyzes, The Writing Life offers deeper insight into one of the most mysterious of professions.