To do great writing, read great writing. Here’s the great writing I’ve been reading this week:
On writing:
Eliminate 21 Reputation-Crushing Writing Mistakes From Your Blog (Problogger) – Basic advice from guest poster and professional proofreader Stefanie Flaxman that’s relevant to all kinds of writing.
12 Essential Apps and Tech Tools for Writers (EdwardHumes.com) – Author Humes shares a smart collection of smartphone apps he likes for research and writing both magazine articles and book projects.
14 Apps that Will Jump-Start Your Writing (Ragan.com) – More apps for writers.
On the writing business:
The Benefits and Risks of Content Farms (GigaOm) Matthew Ingram explains why running – or writing for – a content farm like Demand Media might not be such a good idea after all.
Google Forecloses on Content Farms with “Farmer” Algorithm Update (Search Engine Land) – Still not convinced writing for Demand Media isn’t bad? Read this post, which Danny Sullivan uses to unpack why the tweaks Google has made to the way it searches for information online could spell the end of the Demand Medias of the world.
Can a Brand Journalist Still be a Journalist? Does it Matter? (Junta42) – Content marketing blogger Joe Pulizzi preps for his upcoming SXSW panel by discussing whether journalists who work for non-media companies can really be called journalists. I say yes, and shared as much in a comment on the post. What say you?
New Yorker, Harper’s, NYR and TNR Editors on the Dearth of Female Bylines (The Jewish Forward) – Writer Elissa Strauss bemoans the absence of female bylines in some of the nation’s big-think magazines. But, as I left in a comment, if she’d widened her research to include more than just the elite of American journlalism, she’d see a lot more. What do you think – is there an imbalance, and if so, what’s the best way to rectify it?
On motivation:
Why You Aren’t as Successful as You Want to Be (Chris Brogan) – Turn off distractions, and don’t be afraid to name your goals.