Craft Your Content - [TWR] 15 Minute Increments.

Welcome to The Writing Rundown, a weekly newsletter that offers writing advice, short essays, and reading suggestions to help you improve your craft. It's nice to see you here! If someone forwarded you this email because they love your writing, you can subscribe here. 

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” — Audre Lorde

Elisa’s Thought for the Week:

I was reading about Toni Morrison this week, and learned something interesting about her first book, The Bluest Eye.

At the age of 39, Morrison was a single mother of two, working grueling hours as an editor at Random House, who had never written — let alone published — a novel before.

How’s that for a paragraph of obligations, overwhelm, and reasons why-not?

Still, she woke up at 4AM every morning and committed to writing for at least 15 minutes a day.

That’s it. 15 minutes a day writing.

Some days she’d be able to get in a bit more, but every day she’d write for at least 15 minutes at 4AM.

It took her 5 years to finish the book.

With over a dozen books, countless short stories and essays, literary awards including Nobel and Pulitzer statues, honorary degrees and doctorates, and a beloved fan base of fiercely devoted readers, you could say Toni Morrison did all right with that “late start” and “slow writing process.”

P.S. We can learn so much from such writing masters. If you want to read the whole article and learn what berry cost Morrison an A-grade in school, check it out in The Guardian.

What You Missed on Craft Your Content …

Our articles have the same mission we do — to help you to make your own words even better!

• Starting a new project? Dusting off an old one? This article by writer Kris Schoewe shares insightful tips to help you reignite your writing motivation and give readers a mind-blowing experience.

• (From the Archives: February 2016) Now that you’re off to a good start, you might be concerned about running out of steam. Find out how to maintain your writing motivation in this insightful post by writer Daniel Matthews.

What You Missed on Craft Your Content …

Other places we’ve popped up around the interwebs.

• All over the world, writing is crafted artfully by masterful writers who have varying syles and experiences. Appreciate the bigger picture with The Writer columnist and CYC Editorial Advisor Yi Shun Lai. You’ll find out how diverse authors can not only add to your reading life but improve your writing. Learn more and register.

In Other Reading This Week …

Need more insights and inspiration for your writing and mindset?

• What is the end product of a calm, stimulating, and productive day of writing? Bread! In this piece, food writer Lynne Curry shares her writing recipe: bread baking for writers. By day’s end you’ll have a delicious creation to savor, and a first draft besides.

• Sometimes, you have really relevant content or awesome news to share with your audience. Other times, you have to keep it real and talk about a tough subject. Here’s an Ann Handley case study on addressing the elephant in the room.

• If you’re creating content on the internet, you’ve likely wondered which platform is best for your next content idea. In this post, Rand Fishkin on Sparktoro shares how to figure out where to post, asking “Should it be a Twitter thread or a blog post?”

• In recent years, we’ve heard a lot about AI replacing human experts, including writers. In this post, content specialist Jessica Malnik shares her discoveries from an experiment giving the same brief to both an AI and a human writer. (Spoiler Alert: We’re OK.)

• When it comes down to it, most digital content is aimed at improving a digital presence. Learn what an online presence is and all the ways to improve yours in this infographic by BRAFTON.

Weekly Writing Tip …

A quick chance to learn from the masters.

“Everything I see or do, the weather and the water, buildings . . . everything actual is an advantage when I am writing. It is like a menu, or a giant tool box, and I can pick and choose what I want. When I am not writing, or more important, when I have nothing on my mind for a book, then I see chaos, confusion, disorder.” — Toni Morrison, from a 2009 interview with Pam Houston in O Magazine

For the Upcoming Week …

Because we all need a good chuckle to start things off right!

The “Don’t Be Awkward” section is probably a bit larger.

Till next time!