I was in the middle of a post on cinema and the bourgeoisie (still coming soon) when a good friend asked me what resources I use to learn about writing, copywriting, content writing, and so on. (I do peddle in all of them with various degrees of success…).
So I decided to answer it right away ;)
What follows is a mix of references, in no particular order, that helped me, and continue to help me, in my quest to becoming a better listener, strategist, and critical thinker — all traits that I believe a good writer & content marketer should possess.
The people
Jimmy Daly — from his days at Animalz to creating the most useful content marketing business (Superpath, which I’ll include in the next section), he’s just that good when it comes to strategic content from A to Z.
Ryan Law — a strategist that always throws something “against the current” to spark your critical thinking. Here’s one example. And another one. Also a member of the Animalz crew.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff — for her way of analyzing thinking & creativity through the lens of neurosciences, while also giving practical tools that you can use to “hack” your brain. You can start with “Inductive versus deductive reasoning: how to make stronger arguments”.
Ann Handley — an honest, personal newsletter with a lot of curated goods on everything content, social, organic etc.
Ross Simmonds & Scott Galloway — I’ve put them in a nice bundle, as they’re both great thinkers. Just study the way they compose their titles, hooks, arguments + all the know-how involved in every subject they tackle. You can start here and here.
Nick Moore & his Metaphor Map — one of the best newsletters deconstructing metaphors in all types of writing and teaching you how to use those same metaphors for yourself. Unfortunately, Nick stopped sending them, but the archive is a gem. (he’s also another Animalz member)
The blogs & podcasts
Animalz, both the blog and the podcast & Superpath, the community, the blog and the podcast — this is the ultimate bundle if you want the most on point, actionable content to better your content strategy. I can’t choose one thing, as there is consistent value throughout the pieces they put out there.
Very Good Copy — short content form at its best & a lot of practical nuggets when it comes to translating the “golden age” of Mad Men advertising to today’s content marketing.
Brain Pickings — this project is poetry in motion. It’s about culture, literature, philosophy etc., so you’ll learn to think critically about habits, creativity, the purpose of a writer, and many, many more. One of my favourites here.
Farnam Street — if you want a smart shortcut to complex theories in ethics, cognitive sciences, philosophy, maths etc., look no further! I’ve been reading this one for years and it’s quite a treat. You can start here.
Wait but why — I just love this one, plain and simple! Tim Urban knows how to make research fun, exciting, like you never want it to end + for me, it’s a continuous study in how to shape complex arguments into clear, engulfing storytelling. My all time favourite? On procastination.
Dare to lead & On being — this is the podcast bundle for meaningful conversations that are always an inspiration. Sometimes, when the creative muse is not there for me, I listen for a few minutes or for 2-3 conversations (depending on the gravity of my blockage), and then my mind simply races to make new connections. And my writing gets better because I’m getting better at asking the relevant questions.
The books
On writing well — William Zinsser’s classic is a masterpiece in getting back to basics. After writing for a long time, you tend to muddle the waters, so re-learning the foundations is highly revealing of your shortcomings, limiting beliefs, cliches.
On writing — Stephen King is brilliant in his metanarrative, as he writes a book telling his story, while also highlighting his “way of creating” through the same book. This one I need to re-read, for sure!
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running — Haruki Murakami’s parallel between writing and running is great for busting that annoying myth of talent-only. Creativity is a craft and discipline is a must. Even one as rigorous as Murakami’s training sessions.
Big Magic — I know some of you will wrinkle their noses and roll their eyes at this one and I get it, it’s a rather cheesy entry compared to all the rest. Yet, Elizabeth Gilbert does a great job in explaining the mix of discipline and intuition that creativity takes. A lot of times, as a writer, you have to trust that gut feeling. Whether you like it or not.
The tender bar — J.R. Moehringer knows how to spin a story. This book is just a study in the art of narrative. The structure, the dialogues, the character development, you can take each and study through and through, for there’s a lot to learn. I definitely need to re-read this one, too!
& Fiction with a capital F. To be a good writer is to be a critical reader, no matter what type of literature you prefer. There is brilliant genre literature and there is utterly bad “fiction” (what is also called belle lettres). Look at it in-depth. What do you feel when you read a sentence? Is that character credible? Is that dialogue moving the action? Can you anticipate the next step of the plot?
So there you have it. My current list.
I’ve probably left out a lot of other important references that shaped me as a reader and a writer. I’ve started doing this when I was 6 or 7, writing horrible poetry — what is it with kids and poems anyway?
And, no matter the resources, if you want to write good content, one thing is certain — you can’t stop!
P.S. there are also many video essaysts that I consume weekly or that I return to, just to learn a new way of looking at content. I’ll leave you with two, for starters — Every frame a painting and Nerdwriter.
P.P.S. just a fun thing that may or may not be related.
What a great list! Just added it to my Writing folder and promise to return with some additional resources and thoughts. P.S. Nerdwriter is just amazing!