With the advent of writing communities on such networking sites as Twitter and Facebook and half a thousand forums and Nings, writers are perhaps more social and less solitary than at any time in our history.

This brings its fair share of both benefits and drawbacks, since our easy access to other writers—both those who are striving to be published and those who have a dozen bestsellers under their belts—causes inevitable comparisons.

Are we as good as they are?

Are they as good as we are?

Let’s explore what we can gain from answering these questions, as well as the pitfalls to avoid.

Cons

Jealousy: Easily, the most destructive con of comparison is that of jealousy. Sometimes this jealousy is the simple result of having read a book that spun its tale with such gossamer characters and seamless themes that we were left astonished.

We look at this brilliant author’s perfect prose, and we hate them just because they’re so much better than us. Or perhaps a writing buddy has just nailed a plum contract with the Agent of the Year. What did she do to deserve that honor, especially when—let’s be honest here—her writing leaves a lot to be desired compared to ours?

Jealousy is a flaw common to the vast majority of writers (due largely to the next con on our list), but it’s one that gets us exactly nowhere. The sooner we can stand up to our feelings of jealousy, put them behind us, and work toward being genuinely happy for our fellow writers, the more content and the more productive we’ll be.

Because, let’s face it, there’s always someone who’s better, richer, or luckier than we are. Jealousy is a never-ending melodrama of pain and pettiness.

Inferiority: Perhaps the reason jealousy is so prevalent among authors is that it almost always follows on the heels of its kissing cousin: inferiority. Very few writers are able to maintain perfect confidence in their skill.

When we run across a writer whose prose is more effortless than ours, whose characters are more realistic, whose paychecks are larger, and whose accolades are louder, we can’t help but compare. And when we find ourselves wanting, we either want to plot laborious and exhaustive murder for the object of our comparison, or we want to crumple in a corner and bawl at our general wretchedness. Sometimes both.

In one sense, this chronic inferiority complex is actually a positive thing, since it keeps us honest. As Orson Scott Card put it in How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, “Writers have to simultaneously believe the following two things: The story I am now working on is the greatest work of genius ever written in English. The story I am now working on is worthless drivel.”

Maintaining humility in our work is crucial to our genuineness as artists. But we can’t take this too far. We have to be able to reach a place of objectivity from which we can honestly compare our work to other writers, glean what we can from that comparison, or, if there’s simply nothing to be gained (as would be the case if we, say, compared the latest advance on our books to Stephen King’s), shrug it off as the inconsequentiality it is.

Pros

Inspiration: Comparing ourselves to other writers isn’t all bad. So long as we keep the downfalls in mind and are prepared to avoid them, we can actually gain a number of benefits from considering our fellow writers and how we measure up against them.

Honestly, can you imagine living entirely segregated from writerkind?

That would mean no books to read.
No fellow crazies to understand our quirks and obsessions.
No writerly energy to feed off.

We gain our inspiration from the art of others, from hearing about our writing buddies’ struggles, and from bouncing ideas back and forth.

If I were to write a thank you note to every author I’ve read, loved, and inevitably compared myself too, I probably wouldn’t have time to finish my next novel. Because most of us write the kind of books we enjoy reading, we are constantly reading books that are similar to our own. We recognize similar elements, compare them, and learn how to improve our own characters, plot, and prose as a result.

It’s a win-win situation, because who’s to say our mentors may not someday read one of our stories and find some similarity that brings that next epiphany to their writing?

Motivation: Once we get over the crumpling and crying brought on by our sense of inferiority in comparing ourselves to great writers, our next step is to rise from the ashes, pen in hand, motivated to blot out the very reason for our inferiority. The brilliance of this other author isn’t a boulder to crush us; it’s a mountain to scale.

Perhaps today we’re not good enough to be mentioned in the same breath with our heroes, but, you know what? If they can do it, so can we!

Reading great writers and comparing their brilliant stories to my own has been one of the single greatest factors in motivating me to keep writing, keep learning, keep trying. Nothing is more exciting to the dedicated writer than reading good fiction. Good stories excite us and drive us forward. We close the covers on a good book, and the first thing we want to do (after buying the sequel) is run to our keyboards and funnel all that inspiration and motivation into our own writing.

As with so many things in the writing life, successfully comparing ourselves to other writers is all about balance. If we can tamp a lid on the cons and embrace the pros, we can use the success of our fellows to launch ourselves to even greater heights.

It should be the goal of every writer to be comparison worthy. Hearing someone say, “I wish I could write as well you,” isn’t only the highest of compliments, it’s also a sign you’re giving back to the writing community the benefits you drew from it yourself.

About the Author: K.M. Weiland is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw and the medieval epic Behold the Dawn. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, her book Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, and her instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.
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There are many rules of good writing, but the best way to find them is to be a good reader.
Stephen Ambrose

We’ve all heard accomplished authors say that the best thing for writers to improve their craft is to read widely.

When deadlines loom and life gets hectic, reading can be one of the first things to fall off the radar. Especially reading for pleasure.

Recently, I stumbled upon an online book club of fellow food bloggers and jumped at the chance to join them.

And the thing is, I’m finding there are so many more benefits than I had originally hoped for.

If you’re find you aren’t reading as much as you’d like, here are 7 reasons to get out there and find yourself a book club virtual or otherwise.

1. Read more.
Most of us need a push to get motivated and joining a book club provides clear deadlines on a regular basis. I’m finding that making the time to read for my book club has also opened windows in my day for other reading as well. It’s a bit like the more I read, the more I remember how much I love reading. And the more I read.

2. Read things you wouldn’t normally read.
We all know that it is more beneficial to read a wide variety of styles and genres to help your writing grow, but it can be difficult to push yourself to pickup books outside your comfort zone. Book clubs are a great way to expose yourself to variety. We writers can learn from both the good and the bad.

3. Meet new people
While making friends is always good for the soul, a book club gives you a chance to meet people from different walks of life. This has the added benefit of opportunities to observe new people – great fodder for your writers observational brain.

4. Experience books in a whole new way.
Reading alone is wonderful. Sharing a book with others who have followed a similar solitary journey brings a whole new perspective on the experience. It can open you up to different explanations and insights you may have missed.

5. Gives you insights into the minds of other readers.
As a writer, having a glimpse into how readers react to different topics, styles and techniques can be very enlightening. Seeing what works and what doesn’t is invaluable for learning what invokes strong reactions both positive and negative.

6. Learn new techniques and approaches.
Having the opportunity to analyze writing with fellow authors can only help you gain a greater understanding of the writing process. Likewise, explaining your own observations to others will cement the lessons more firmly in your own mind.

7. It’s fun.
Taking the time to enjoy yourself and have some fun with books and other people is reward in itself. Don’t forget that it also helps inspire and recharge your creative juices and that alone wil

If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.
Stephen King

Jules Clancy is a qualified Food Scientist and the creator of The Stonesoup Virtual Cookery School. She blogs about simple 5 ingredients recipes that can mostly be prepared in 10 minutes over at Stonesoup.

A guest post by K.M. Weiland of Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors.

Writers come in all shapes and sizes, from all personal backgrounds, all walks of life, and all cultures and countries. We’re a varied bunch, but we all have something in common: in order for any of us to make it past first base in this business, we have to possess three traits. These traits are non-negotiable. If we don’t possess all three of them, we’ll never be writers, and we’ll certainly never find marketable success.

What are these traits, and how do we solidify them in our lives?

Trait #1: Talent

In some ways, talent is the easiest of the three, since it’s something over which we have no control. We’re either talented, or we’re not. Generally speaking, talent incorporates one or all of the following:

• An aptitude for words, which can include (but isn’t necessarily limited to) an understanding of language and a perceptive ear for powerful and rhythmic phrasings.
• An instinctual understanding, however raw in the beginning, of story structure.
• An insatiable curiosity, a desire to discover truth, and a willingness to be audaciously honest about the human experience and the world in which it takes place.

I consider talent the least important, simply because it’s the only one of the three traits that is useless without the other two. Still, it’s important to recognize that without that original kernel of talent, all the watering and weeding in the world won’t cause the growth of a burgeoning tree.

Trait #2: Learning

I use the word “learning” instead of “knowledge” because “learning” indicates more than a static pile of facts stored in our brains. Learning encompasses the following ideas:

• An ongoing process that suggests a mindset in search of enlightenment more than a simple checklist of facts to be mastered.
• A hunger for knowledge that is further stimulated, instead of sated, by the actual discovery of knowledge.
• A willingness to devote an endless amount of time and energy to studying the craft.

Even the largest measure of talent can only carry an author so far. We must study to show ourselves approved by reading widely and voraciously, researching the tenets of the craft as seen by other authors who have proven themselves through their own devotion, and seeking and accepting the wise criticism of readers, editors, and other writers. Writing is a skill that can be learned by almost anyone, and it is in the learning that we raise ourselves above raw potential to refinement and eventual mastery.

Trait #3: Diligence

Finally, we come to the most important of the three traits, the bottom of the pyramid, the foundation for the previous two. Without diligence, we will inevitably lack the ability to grit our teeth and put our innate talent or our sought-after knowledge to practical use. Writers who possess diligence are able to bring the following to their writing desks:

• A commitment to writing, even in the face of its difficulties.
• A certain amount of hardheaded tenacity that allows them to keeping marching right past the inevitable discouragements.
• A consistency is showing up for work every day, no matter what else has to be sacrificed.

The writing life is filled with setbacks and even outright failures. Without the determination to persevere, no writer will make it past the starting gates. We have to be willing to devote our time and energy to pursuing our craft, polishing it, and loving it even when it isn’t lovable.

In order to call ourselves writers, we have to act like writers. We must recognize our responsibility to our talent. We must open our minds to studying and perfecting the art of writing. And we must be willing to do these things day in and day out. Writing isn’t always a hobby; it isn’t always a career; but it is a lifestyle. If we can devote ourselves to pursuing these three traits, we can wake up every morning with assurance that we are writers.

K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

Want to become a successful blogger? Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in the A-List Blogger Club,

Guest post by Scott Dinsmore of ReadingForYourSuccess

How do you get someone to find real value in your book review; Let alone read the book? With only 10% of books being read past the first chapter, it’s a tall order indeed.

The simple answer: you must become a ninja. Only a true master of the written word can successfully capture the all-powerful opponent: your audience.

Four years of writing reviews and summaries for ReadingForYourSuccess has taught me all kinds of ninja-like tricks. I almost exclusively cover non-fiction books that can somehow improve one’s life but what I’ve learned can be adapted to most genres. At times they’re counterintuitive at best, so pay attention.

The goals for me when writing reviews are three-fold:

1. Get them to read the review.
2. Give them something that can directly use to improve their life–Get them to take action!
3. Get them to order the book and read it cover to cover.

Getting all this done in a 1,000 word review isn’t always easy. When I first started, #3 was most important to me. With how little the average person reads in today’s ever-distracted world, I took it as my duty to get people to dive back into books. I soon learned that this proved nearly impossible in a short post, especially if you also want to accomplish 1 and 2 above, so the real goal is to get readers off on the right foot. At the risk of people only reading my summaries and not the books, I decided that them getting an immediate benefit was most important. You may have your own goals and the below secrets will help for most any non-fiction review.

Giving the reader an immediate benefit has to be most important.

10 Secrets to Writing an Engaging and Useful Book Review:

1. Grab them with a killer headline. I know this goes for any post but I can’t tell you how often I see the title of a book review be the actual book title. In fact I used to do this as well. Your review post is no different than any other post when it comes to engaging the reader. Make them want to dive into your review. A crafty headline is your ticket. Zen Habits, WriteToDone and Goodlife Zen are where I learned the great importance of this.

Some example headlines I’ve written include:
How to live to 100: Lessons from the Blue Zones
A Guide to Finding Zen in Social Media Marketing
Eat Simply and Reclaim Your Energy: Skinny Bastard
Quadruple Your Productivity and Enjoy a Little Life: 8 Steps to Getting Things Done
Power Negotiating Crash Course: A Few Tricks that Can Save You A Fortune In Minutes

2. Mention the benefit to them up front. Ideally do this in the headline if not in the first few sentences. Keep it short and impactful. At the risk of being too direct, why not just go right out and tell the reader why it’d be good to read this review and book? Perhaps add a bold heading to the top that says: Why you should read it:…. Be sure it is directed towards them as opposed to why you read the book. When in doubt keep the focus on their benefit, not yours.

3. What’s your purpose? Before doing anything, you should critically ask yourself why you’re doing it. Whether it’s reading, writing, eating, speaking, you name it. Being sure of the purpose of your review gives you a much better chance of connecting with your reader. You saw my goals above. What are yours? Is this to inform, to teach, to entertain or to inspire action? Be crystal clear on your purpose before you write your first word. Your readers will appreciate it.

4. Make it personal. Especially when it comes to personal development books, people want to know how this is going to improve their life. And the best way is through anecdotes. I only review the books that have had a profound impact on me so this step comes easy. You should be writing from passion in the first place. Let the world know how this book impacted you and how it might impact them as a reader. Tell a story!

5. Add in a little social proof. Get creative on how you can find a way to tie in your relationship with the author. Amazingly, ReadingForYourSuccess has allowed me to form incredible relationships with very well known authors. I in turn mention this in my reviews, which helps with my social proof and authority in that area. People are then more inclined to listen. Ideally you’ve met or gotten to know the author or perhaps you recently heard them speak or even mention that you were given the book by someone well known and trusted. When I wrote a review on one of Tony Robbins’ books, I tied it in by mentioning having just gone to his Unleash the Power Within four-day event and that I used a Robbins Coach for my business. Any connection helps.

6. Make it easy to learn. People do not want to read paragraph after paragraph of text. We wanted it yesterday, which means that since we’re not getting it until today, it must be concise and easy to fly through. Bullet points, bold sections, called-out quotes. A good rule of thumb is “if they read the bold, they have enough to break the mold”. Simply put a few things in bold that, if the reader decides to only read that section, they will be better off for doing so.

7. Decide on 5-10 main points to get across. These will be your numbered lists and bold sections. This is the body of your review. There should only be a few paragraphs in addition to this section. The goal here is genuine transfer of knowledge and inspiration to take action.

8. Tell them how long it takes to read. This is a general online writing strategy I learned from Tim Ferriss of the 4-Hour Work Week. Add the average reading time to the top. If it’s less than 6 or 7 minutes, you’ll have a great shot at them getting to it right then. If there’s no time mentioned, we tend to assume these things will take much more of our time than they actually will. Simple math is to divide your total number of words by 250 words per minute, which is the high average reading speed. Put it at the top in bold. This can sometimes do as much influencing as a powerful heading.

9. Make the page dance with color: Add some life to your review. Our minds love images and being the visual beings we are, we’re much more likely to remember a picture than a bunch of text. Spend some time finding the right couple images. One tendency with book reviews is to just include a picture of the book. This is definitely more engaging than text but it’s only half way there. I used to start every review with the book image. It was quick. It was easy. But it was not effective. Save the book image for further down the post once you’ve hooked your reader. Start with some pop.

10. End with Action! Non-fiction books and especially personal development books are not written to be read. They are written to induce action. Massive action in most cases. At the end of my review/summary the reader should have enough information and inspiration to go out and directly modify some part of their life for the better. Encourage action in your last paragraph and especially last sentence. Often asking a question to the reader is a nice way to transfer a feeling of obligation or responsibility to them.

Here are two examples of recent reviews I’ve written using the above framework:

• How to live to 100: Lessons from the Blue Zones
• A Guide to Finding Zen in Social Media Marketing

I have been developing these master tools over years of writing and they’ve made quite the difference. Just changing my headlines and adding average reading time has increased my readership by at least three-fold. This stuff is powerful and it’s easy. Hopefully it helps take the burden off of writing longer, arduous reviews, and gets you excited to be concise and have some fun.

Once you’ve created something you’re proud of, be sure to send it to the author. They love seeing their work in the spotlight and this can be the start of a genuine personal relationship with them and a little social proof (see #5 above…).

Keep these in mind and you’ll enter the sacred realm of book review mastery with ninja-like victory. You’ll begin producing reviews that will get people reading, and more importantly, get them acting. Put it to work and inspire your readers.

Read more inspiring articles, book reviews and summaries from Scott Dinsmore at Reading For Your Success where he is committed to making your life and career a success through “action-based reading”. You can Subscribe to Scott’s future articles here.

Guest post by Scott Dinsmore of ReadingForYourSuccess

Last week I spent a day with Warren Buffett at his annual meeting. The education was profound, and surprisingly serves to make us all better writers, bloggers and entrepreneurs.

12 Life Lessons from Warren Buffett:

1. Lose money and I will forgive you, but lose even a shred of reputation and I will be ruthless. This has been echoed across the business world for years and it applies to us all. Life is too short to cut corners to make an extra buck. Wealth can always be recreated but reputation takes a lifetime to build and often only a moment to destroy. As Warren says, “we will not trade reputation for money.” In the world of blogging, we are writing because we love it. It’s not for the money. This makes reputation more important than anything. Remember this when you are contemplating rushing to monetize your site by filling it with ads, links, etc.

2. The best defense in a tough economy is to add the most you can to society. Your money can be inflated away but your knowledge and talent cannot. No matter the external circumstances, you are always in control of your talent, learning and passion for life. There will always be opportunities for talent. This is the most empowering thing about web entrepreneurship and blogging. Develop those skills with the constant focus on helping others and you will never be without a job.

3. We get worried when people start to agree with us. The best fruit is found out on the limbs. The road less traveled makes all the difference. Make a rule to always stay on the side of the minority in your life’s path and you will be greatly rewarded. Not to mention it will be magnitudes more exciting. These are exactly the topics that people want to read about. Get a little edgy with your posts. Say something fresh. It will stick with your visitors and they’re likely to come back.

4. We celebrate wealth only when it’s been fairly won and wisely used. The goal is not to make money at all costs. It’s easy to forget that in a lot of industries and sub-cultures around the world where everyone is in constant competition. And this can especially be the case when so many of us spend hours upon hours writing and developing our web services for free. Do not rush it and do not get greedy. Help others and the fruit will be there. Wealth is worthless if you’ve destroyed all your relationships to attain it. Take the high road. It’s far less crowded. A bit sad but often true. Makes it pretty easy to stand out.

5. When you are exceptional you jump off the page. There really isn’t that much competition there. Be your own best competitive advantage. Then it doesn’t make a difference what others are doing. You are in control. In blogging, entrepreneurship and life, there are few people really willing to give it their all. Do this and your supporters will love you for it (they will also likely multiply).

6. Do what you’re passionate about. If you do this, there will be few people competing or running faster than you. The best way to be exceptional is with passion! As Tony Robbins says every day of his life, “Live with Passion!” And trust me, life is a lot more fun this way. I cannot think of a better motivator to get you to write for free and love it, than to jump out of bed dying to teach and help others.

7. I think I developed courage when I learned I could deal with hardship. You need to get your feet wet and get some failure under your belt. Courage does not grow on its own. Just like a muscle, it must be constantly worked out and developed. Life begins outside your comfort zone and that’s where courage is developed. Most people don’t succeed because they’re afraid to fail. Failure isn’t that bad anyway. It will make you tougher and more likely to win the next time around. If I had a dime for every time I heard someone tell me about an idea they wanted to pursue or how much they would like to give blogging a shot, without an ounce of action to follow…well, I might own a few more shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. No one has succeeded without going through their own failures at some point. To try and to fail is much better than to never try. Why not get started early and get some of them out of the way! What’s the worst that could happen? As big wave surfer Laird Hamilton says “If you’re not falling then you’re not learning.”

8. There’s no better way to be happier than getting your expectations down. Most unhappiness comes from misaligned and unrealistic expectations of life. Expect the world of yourself, but expect nothing of the world. Then you cannot help but live your life pleasantly surprised. When I first started blogging a few years ago, I had these huge aspirations of how quickly I’d have a massive following. When it didn’t happen immediately, it got me down. Write and develop your business online with the expectation of it being a charity project to help others. Anything in addition will be icing on the cake.

9. If the only reason you find for doing something is because others are doing it then that’s not good enough. In fact, if everyone else is writing on a topic, maybe that’s the one best to avoid. Tim Ferriss is a master at evading the majority with his 4-Hour Work Week philosophy. Learn to be comfortable on your own path.

10. Decide early in life to make your money by selling things that you really believe are good for the customers. Make this a rule before you write another word to your readers or offer another product to your customers. Life is too short and your reputation too fragile to not have your audience first and foremost in your mind and in your heart. Rules like this make it very difficult to lose.

11. We’ve done a lot of stupid things but we’ve avoided a small subset of stupidity and that subset is important. It’s about avoiding the dumb things. Warren’s success does not come from doing so many things right. It comes from avoiding the things that are terribly wrong. Some say this is two sides of the same coin. It’s not. It requires a fundamental shift in psychology. The stories are endless of people who did a few things right and were massively successful, but then did something stupid that took them back to zero. Before Warren does anything, he and his partner “invert, always invert.” They list every way imaginable in which they could fail at a particular task and then take massive effort to avoid those failures. Do this for your blog or business and the success will come automatically. Always ask yourself, what would disappoint my readers or customers? Then don’t do it.

12. Go to bed a little wiser than when you woke up. This is the crux of the whole meeting. Life is about learning. If you are always learning you can never lose. Keep this as your only rule for the day and the world will be yours for the taking. There has been no better way for me to continue to add value to my readers and followers than this life maxim. Follow it and you will never run out of posts to write or people to serve.

The lessons from Warren are endless. We all stand to learn to be better people, writers and entrepreneurs from what he’s willing to share. He doesn’t charge any money or ask for anything in return. Except of course that we live a life with a burning desire to learn and do all we can to be valuable additions to society. Keep this as the foremost mission of your business or blog and your time spent will be well rewarded.

Read more action-provoking posts by Scott Dinsmore, a writer, and entrepreneur. You can read more by Scott at Reading For Your Success.

Image: The Street

By Mary Jaksch

A short while ago I was about to travel to Tonga for a chill-out. A couple of days before getting on the plane, I completed the most important pre-flight preparation. Guess what that was. No, it wasn’t getting travel insurance. Nor was it finding my passport. It was much more important:

I visited a book shop.

“I’ll be flying to Tonga in a couple of days. Have you got a classy mystery novel for me to read on the beach?”

The bookseller peered at me over his specs, “Have you read Stieg Larssen’s novels?”

“Stieg Larssen? – No. Should I know him?”

He looked at me as if I’d crawled out from under a prehistoric stone.

“Haven’t you heard of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’?”

“Is it really that good?”

“Good?” he spluttered. “It’s fantastic!”

Then he put the three volumes on the counter, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest

“If you’re spending a week at the beach, you’ll need to buy he first two books of the trilogy. They’re so riveting, you won’t be able to put them down.”

“You mean I should buy two books? No way!”

The bookseller’s wife joined in the conversation, and said: “Yes, really – you’ll get through the first book before you know what’s hit you!”

“Two books? No way! I need at least three to keep me going.”

So they wrapped up all three, beaming.

It was a mistake. I should have waited until I was in the airport. Because I started reading the moment I got home and was so engrossed, I nearly missed my flight… If you haven’t yet read Larssen’s trilogy, please go and read at least the first volume. They are a fantastic read!

Swedish investigative journalist and writer Stieg Larssen was never to see his books in print. He had a heart attack just three months after he delivered volume no. 3 to the publisher. He was fifty years old when he died on the operating table and never got to see his books become bestsellers.

Stieg Larssen’s books were not the only ones that found their way into my backpack. I also took some other interesting goodies with me.

I read Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields. It’s an inspiring read! If you want to change your work and actually do what you like, then read this book. It’s practical and eloquent.

The Purple Cow has now appeared in a new edition. It’s Seth Godin’s book on how to transform your business by being remarkable. It’s informative – especially if you’re planning to become an entrepreneur.

I also read Sebastian Faulks’ Human Traces under the palmtrees. That’s a wonderful novel of epic proportions. The Sunday Telegraph called it, “A bold and remarkable work of imagination.”

So there you have it – those are the books I read on a tropical beach in Tonga.

Here’s a question for you:

If you were heading for a tropical beach, what books would YOU take?
Please share your personal book tips in the comments.

Mary Jaksch is Chief Editor of Write to Done. Read more of her stuff on Goodlife ZEN and check out her FREE Virtual Zen Retreat.

By Leo Babauta

A good number of you are either published authors, or more likely people who want to be published authors. Well, I’m happy to say I’ve joined the ranks of those who are published!

My first book, The Power of Less, comes out tomorrow (Dec. 30, 2008), and I’ve created a site to give people more info to help promote the book. It’s super exciting! :)

Some things I’m doing to promote the book:

• Created ThePowerofLess.com, which is now getting a lot of traffic!
• Released several audio podcasts with tips related to the book.
• Released a video.
• Wrote and published a free ebook companion to the book – Thriving on Less.
• Created The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge, where people can sign up and create a new habit in 30 days, just 10 minutes a day. So far, more than 600 people have signed up in the first day!

But the major accomplishment for me was writing the book in the first place, while running Zen Habits and Write To Done at the same time, starting a new ebook publishing company, training for my second marathon, planning my wedding and honeymoon, and helping raise six kids at the same time. Whew! I’m overwhelmed just writing that sentence!

So how did I complete the book while doing all those things? Read on.

1. Focus only on the book. I was definitely overwhelmed with all the things I mentioned above on my plate. My schedule and to-do list was too complicated, and to be honest, I busted my deadline to submit the manuscript for this book.

So what did I do? I simplified, of course. I cleared away my schedule, told people I couldn’t work on certain projects, asked others to fill in for me on my blogs, got someone to help with the wedding planning, turned down many requests. I devoted my time to writing the book, and nothing but the book.

2. Have a deadline to meet. Even though I didn’t actually meet my deadline for the book, it did help that I had a deadline. I hate missing deadlines, although I’ve done it many times. Sometimes it’s a part of life. But having that deadline gives you an incentive to get things done. Even if you don’t have a publisher, set a deadline for yourself to actually complete your book.

3. Be accountable to someone. My editor was breathing down my neck to submit the manuscript — that was his job, and as I was late he had other people breathing down his neck. So there was some pressure there, and it helped me to focus and get things done. I don’t always like pressure, but sometimes a little pressure is a good thing. If you don’t have an editor, find someone who you’ll be accountable to. And make sure they hold you to it. A good idea is posting your commitment and progress on your blog — you won’t want to look bad in public!

4. Keep things simple. One thing that helped was that the outline of my book was simple. I kept the chapters easy to write, didn’t have anything difficult in the outlines for each chapter, and was able to crank out the text. Complicated and hard-to-research books take much longer to write.

5. Clear away distractions. Email, Twitter, IM, RSS feeds, forums, things like that … those all get in the way and distract us from writing. I knew I really needed to focus, so I put my email on hold (and checked it as little as possible), shut down all other types of communication as much as I could, stopped reading on the Internet and RSS feeds, closed my browser. I wrote in a simple text editor and shut everything else down.

6. Do one thing at a time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by a large project. Instead, focus on just the next task that needs to be done. Not even writing a whole chapter — just the intro, or just one section. Don’t worry about everything else — just the task in front of you. Complete the task, figure out what’s next, then do that. Repeat until you’re done. You can’t do a whole project — only one thing at a time.

7. Set a writing time. It’s easy to allow your day to get away from you. You might check email, or do some chores, or talk to people, go do some errands, and before you know it, the day’s over and you haven’t done any writing. Avoid this by setting a time to start writing, and a time to finish — whether that’s one hour, two, four, or eight. I suggest doing your writing first thing in your workday — otherwise it might get pushed back because of other tasks. Stick to your schedule!

8. Be free with your first draft. If you fret over every little word, you’ll never get things done. Instead, just write. Get it out. It might suck, and probably will. That’s what revision is for. After you get the first draft out, let it sit for a day or two, then go back with fresh eyes and revise, clean things up, make them more concise and clear. But with the first draft, just get it out!

Read more about these simple productivity principles in my book, The Power of Less — see the website or buy it today:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Borders
• IndieBound

Also, I’d love it if you reviewed the book on your blog, or told your friends, family and co-workers about it! Thanks everyone!

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Photo courtesy of shaycam.

If I am asked for my best advice for newer writers, I always respond with two things they absolutely must do:

1. Write a lot.
2. Read a lot.

If you do those two things, you won’t be able to help getting better. Of course, there’s more to writing than that, but if you’re looking for a simple writing-improvement program, that’s it.

I’d like to talk about the second point today — reading a lot. Why does it matter? Because by reading other writers, you start to gain a greater command of the language, of vocabulary, of the limits of writing and art, of techniques and craft, of poetry and imagination. Read for content, read for themes, and read for techniques.

But what should you read? That can be debated endlessly (and has been), but my philosophy is just to read a great variety of stuff, of all genres, from different cultures, high-brow and low-brow alike. Be indiscriminate.

That said, here are some notes on what I’m reading and some books I’ve enjoyed recently:

Kafka on the Shoreby Haruki Marukami: This is what I’m reading now, and I can barely put it down. It’s a book I’ve long been wanting to read, and when I saw it on my mom’s bookshelf, I eagerly grabbed it. It’s so imaginative, and it’s a wonderful book for writers because it’s a fictional story that talks about fiction, and art, and literature, in such interesting ways. From Kafka to Japanese writers to Tolsoy to the Greek classics, this story spans the ages. The characters are fascinating as well. I won’t spoil the story — just read it.

Anna Karenina (Signet Classics), by Leo Tolstoy: One of the greatest classics ever, of course, but I hadn’t read it until this past month. I’m glad I spent the time to read the 800+ pages, because it’s such a beautiful story, just as relevant today as it was 120 years ago. For writers, it’s an amazing book — one that contemporary Dostoyevsky called “flawless” as a work of art — for its realism, for the depth of its characters, for the intricate weaving of complex stories, and for the masterful use of an omniscient narrator that set the standard for generations of writers to come.

When We Were Orphans: A Novelby Kazuo Ishiguro: I’ve only recently fallen in love with Ishiguro’s writing (Never Let Me Go, below, and An Artist of the Floating World are two others I love). This is an intriguing story that’s ostensibly about a famous London detective trying to solve the case of his parent’s abduction decades earlier … but it’s so much more than that. Ishiguro is so interesting as a writer, in good part because he really challenges the reader’s notion of the reliability of the narrator, and of subjectivity in storytelling.

Water for Elephants: A Novelby Sara Gruen: I didn’t think I would enjoy a book about circuses and elephants, so I entered into this book with a little skepticism. You might too, but if you give it a chance this book will captivate you. It’s such a lovely story, and the impeccably researched details really take you back to a time and place you will only reluctantly leave.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert: The only non-fiction book on this list, this is a memoir that is a great read for bloggers, because the distinctive voice she uses really instructs us, as bloggers, about the possibilities of the blogger’s voice. Gilbert is a writer going through a tough time in life, with a divorce and another failed romance and angst … and decides to take a year off, traveling. She takes us through four months in Rome, where she experiences pleasure … four months in an ashram in India where she focuses on devotion … and another four months in Bali where she explores love. Really, a fascinating read.
Motherless Brooklyn,  by Jonathen Lethem: One of my favorite current authors, Lethem takes the detective novel to new levels with a brilliant main character. I truly love this book.

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro: Another by this Japanese author raised in England … this is a bewildering story that slowly unfolds. I liked this book, as a writer, because it shows that you don’t need to use conventional plot devices to move the reader along … Ishiguro uses curiosity more than anything else to compel us to read each chapter, and I think it works.

Run: A Novel (P.S.), by Ann Patchett: Another of my favorite current authors. If you haven’t read Patchett’s Bel Canto, definitely read it! I recommend all her others as well: Magician’s Assistant, Taft, The Patron Saint of Liars, Truth & Beauty. Run is an amazing little story of two families that collide … and there are two characters that are filled with such beauty that it’s heart-rendering. Patchett is a wonderful storyteller.

Ask the Readers

So now that you’ve seen what I’ve been reading, I’d like to ask you, the readers:

What are you reading? And what kind of reading do you recommend for writers?