40 One-Sentence Writing Tips

Advice for anyone who writes anything.

Your writing defines you.

Whether you write blog posts, books, newsletters, proposals, emails, or just scribble notes to yourself, writing is a foundational element to your work, art, and life.

Following are a collection of lessons I’ve learned over the years to help you get the most out of the next thing you write…whatever that may be.

1. The things you write will never be “done” and once you realize that you’ll be able to publish them.

2. Eliminate 20% of the words you wrote to make your draft 100% better.

3. The most valuable thing you can learn from successful writers isn’t how they write, it’s how often they write.

4. Great writers are great editors.

5. Writing that resonates with an audience isn’t about what’s in the writer’s head — it’s an expression of what’s in the reader’s head.

6. There’s no such thing as an “aspiring” writer — if you write, you’re a writer and if you don’t, you’re not.

7. You don’t need ideas to write, you need to write to find ideas.

8. First drafts feel bad, but everything after it feels good.