🧰 The most powerful tool
Fundamentals first.
“If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.” — Natalie Goldberg
👋 Hi! I’m Tom, and this is the Best Writing Newsletter (Issue #12).
Every Thursday, I send great reads, tools, jobs, tips, and friendly encouragement to do your best writing.
If someone shared this with you, subscribe here.
Everything starts with words.
Best-selling books, Oscar-winning movies, Billboard-topping songs, world-connecting social networks, planet-governing laws, and the list never ends.
Today I want to share one of my favorite pieces online that I keep rereading regularly.
Back in 2013, Justin Jackson wrote Words, an instant classic.
“We’ve become obsessed with fancy designs, responsive layouts, and scripts that do magical things. But the most powerful tool on the web is still words.”
Read the entire piece (428 words only).
⭐️ Unlimited Books & Magazines
Scribd is considered “the Netflix of books.” One subscription gives you access to over 1 million eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, and documents. Available worldwide. Your first month costs zero.
Want to promote a product or service? Become a supporter.
Writing Tip of the Week
😤 Use emotions. Your words can go viral because you trigger a specific feeling, explains Shaan Puri.
The most important factor is that you need to target a specific emotion.
- LOL — that’s so funny
- WTF — that pisses me off
- WOW — that’s amazing
- NSFW — that’s crazy
- Ohhh — now I get it
- Finally — someone said what I feel
- Yay — that’s great news
Your writing — it can be an article or a Twitter thread, has to strongly elicit one emotion from the above.
Best Writing Examples
Discover sharp copy, inspiring quotes, and powerful messaging from the best apps, websites, magazines, and books.
What’s the most common objective, cough, excuse? I don’t have time. SavvyCal crafted a thoughtful headline focusing on the popular reason.
Understand your audience’s pain and present your solution. A fantastic example of Muzzle, a simple app with hilarious context.
Omsom mixes vivid colors with authentic copy making its friendly brand stand out.
Best Reads
Favorite stories from Writer News.
💰 Get New Clients. Try these 75 practical ideas to secure your next client.
✂️ Rare Skills. Morgan Housel, one of my favorite writers, shares three rare and powerful skills.
“Perhaps the most critical communication skill. Be brief. Use as few words as possible to say what you need, and everyone will appreciate it.”
📏 Blog Post Length. Find the data-driven answer to the eternal question of “how long should a blog post be?”
“Research suggests that articles with 3,000+ words generate the most organic traffic. However, other metrics, such as social shares, follow a different logic.”
🌱 Newsletter Growth. Specific, visual and highly applicable tips for growing your newsletter.
✍️ Writer News is a new place for writers to share their work, get feedback, and discuss writing. Invite-only. Join the waitlist here.
Cool Tools
Interesting apps and software for curious writers.
Freewrite. Dedicated writing device for distraction-free, portable, flow-state writing. 100 hr battery life. No eye-strain.
Mailbrew. A simple tool curating the best content from your favorite creators and newsletters in a daily email digest.
Rize. A smart time tracker that improves your focus and helps you build better work habits.
Use The Keyboard. A collection of keyboard shortcuts for Mac apps, Windows programs, and websites.
Food for Thought
“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.” — Anne Lamott
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly-they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” — Aldous Huxley
“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.” — Carl Rogers
“Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” — Ernest Hemingway
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” — Robert Frost
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” — Maya Angelou
Did You Know?
On January 8, 1981, Isabel Allende wrote a letter to her dying grandfather that later turned into her first novel, The House of the Spirits. Ever since, this has been the date on which Allende starts a new work. Having started, she writes from Monday through Saturday, from 9 A.M. to 7 P.M. 🗓
Best Writing Jobs
Find your next writing job, freelance gig, or side hustle.
- Full-Time Communications Content Manager at Wespath Benefits and Investments (Glenview, US)
- Full-Time Copywriter at MORE (Mexico City, Mexico)
- Full-Time Technical Writer at Reach Platform (Remote)
- Full-Time Proofreader/Copy Editor at INFUSEmedia (Remote)
- Freelance Editor at The Urban Writers (Remote, CA)
Freelance opportunities for members only.
🔒 Science Writer at Hakai Magazine, CAD $1.10/word (Freelance)
🔒 Fashion Writer at British GQ (Freelance)
🔒 Email Content Writer, 15 emails/week (Freelance)
🔒 Health Writer at Zocdoc (Freelance)
🔒 Copy Editor at ThinkAdvisor (Freelance)
🔑 Become a member to get instant access to daily freelance gigs not advertised anywhere else.
💼 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?
Fully focused on the blog migration, hoping to finish before November starts.
In case you missed it, we created content hubs with the best books, book notes, quotes, writing wiki and writing blog.
🙋♂️ We posted 30+ new jobs and added new members to the writer’s directory (here’s how to get listed if you’re a writer).
Did You Like the Newsletter?
😉 Share it with friends by sending this link.
🤝 Want to get featured or collaborate? Send me your ideas.
☕️ Feeling generous? Buy me a cup of coffee.
💬 Want to become a supporter? Let’s talk.
Until next week,
Tomas Laurinavicius (your word nerd friend)
Co-founder, Best Writing (formerly Content Writing Jobs)
P.S. If I stay perfectly still the skinny cats won’t notice me. 🐈⬛
Originally published at https://bestwriting.com.
