Hilary Liftin on the Art of Ghostwriting

No matter your current skill level, William Zinsser believes anyone can practice the craft of writing. On Writing Well offers a back-to-basics approach, focusing on honing essential writing skills rather than trying to employ complex stylistic techniques. Even if you’re not a professional writer, you’ll often find yourself in a position where you need to express an idea with words, and whether you’re crafting an email or a resume, you can apply Zinsser’s principles of simple, clear, and engaging writing. This book explores how to approach the discipline of writing and effectively put your ideas into words.

In this guide, we’ll explore Zinsser’s principles of simplicity, clarity, and identity, how to achieve each of them, and the specific challenges of creative nonfiction genres. Along the way, we’ll examine how his principles align with or differ from other writing experts, and we’ll provide actionable tips so you can apply Zinsser’s ideas to your writing.

Are you naturally a bad writer? Trick question: There’s no such thing. In Everybody Writes, bestselling author, speaker, and digital marketer Ann Handley explains that writing is a practice, not a talent, and that anyone can improve their writing through consistent work and practice. You don’t need to be a Hemingway or a Faulkner to produce great content: You just need a routine, a process, and a voice—plus something to write with!

Whether you’re emailing your colleagues at work, posting on social media, writing papers for school, or writing content for marketing, Handley offers a comprehensive guide to improving your writing and reaching your audience. In our guide, we’ll supplement Handley’s advice with tips from other writers and examine the psychology behind what makes her suggestions effective.

On Writing is Stephen King’s musings on his craft—about how he discovered writing, what he learned about it, and his advice to you as a writer. Part memoir and part practical advice, it’s a personal look at one of the bestselling authors of all time.

Learn how Stephen King got his start by writing as a teenager, then struggled as an early writer until his breakthrough book Carrie. Then learn his key tips on writing good fiction, including how to develop a realistic story and characters, why you must avoid adverbs, and how to make it in the writing business.

No matter your current skill level, William Zinsser believes anyone can practice the craft of writing. On Writing Well offers a back-to-basics approach, focusing on honing essential writing skills rather than trying to employ complex stylistic techniques. Even if you’re not a professional writer, you’ll often find yourself in a position where you need to express an idea with words, and whether you’re crafting an email or a resume, you can apply Zinsser’s principles of simple, clear, and engaging writing. This book explores how to approach the discipline of writing and effectively put your ideas into words.

In this guide, we’ll explore Zinsser’s principles of simplicity, clarity, and identity, how to achieve each of them, and the specific challenges of creative nonfiction genres. Along the way, we’ll examine how his principles align with or differ from other writing experts, and we’ll provide actionable tips so you can apply Zinsser’s ideas to your writing.

Storytelling is an elusive art—you may have found yourself moved to tears by a story without fully understanding why. This makes writing fiction a tricky endeavor. Is it possible to learn how to capture and communicate this kind of emotional magic? Arguably, yes. The same basic storytelling principles apply no matter what kind of story you want to write—whether it’s a hilarious short film, a heart-wrenching novel, or a chilling horror audio drama.

For this Master Guide, we’ve collected and distilled advice from successful authors and storytelling experts, including Stephen King, Robert McKee, and Lisa Cron. You’ll learn how to structure your story in a way that makes sense to audiences, use your characters to communicate your story’s theme, and convey your unique voice through your storytelling.

Are you naturally a bad writer? Trick question: There’s no such thing. In Everybody Writes, bestselling author, speaker, and digital marketer Ann Handley explains that writing is a practice, not a talent, and that anyone can improve their writing through consistent work and practice. You don’t need to be a Hemingway or a Faulkner to produce great content: You just need a routine, a process, and a voice—plus something to write with!

Whether you’re emailing your colleagues at work, posting on social media, writing papers for school, or writing content for marketing, Handley offers a comprehensive guide to improving your writing and reaching your audience. In our guide, we’ll supplement Handley’s advice with tips from other writers and examine the psychology behind what makes her suggestions effective.

In Coach the Person, Not the Problem, Marcia Reynolds seeks to expand people’s understanding of coaching. She argues that coaching is a partnership in which coaches help clients examine and challenge deep-seated beliefs that limit them, rather than a surface level, problem-solving exercise in which an expert doles out advice.

Reynolds is a leadership and executive coach who has advanced degrees in education, communications, and organizational psychology. Through working with a range of clients—including corporations like AT&T and American Express, universities, and government agencies—she discovered that lasting change comes only when people confront the underlying assumptions and emotions that have led them into the same, problematic situations time and again.

This guide examines Reynolds’s approach to coaching, five practices she uses to empower clients, and techniques to hone your coaching skills. Additionally, we provide expert perspectives that support, counter, and contextualize Reynolds’s work.

In The Manager’s Path, engineering executive Camille Fournier introduces the field of engineering management—the management of software engineers, who design and code software systems and programs. This can be a challenging field, as there’s little information available on balancing technical knowledge with management skills. Fournier seeks to close this gap, drawing from her experience as an engineer-turned-manager to identify skills and techniques that can help new engineering managers handle the transition.

In this guide, we’ll explore three main skills that can help you succeed as an engineering manager: clear communication, strategic planning, and adaptability. We’ll discuss each skill’s importance, how they evolve throughout your career, and Fournier’s suggestions for developing them. In our commentary, we’ll compare Fournier’s ideas to those of other software engineers, as well as tech business experts like Marty Cagan.

What makes a good project leader? How can you better communicate with the people you work with? Why are schedules so unreliable? What can you do to avoid major problems on a project? In Making Things Happen, public speaker and management expert Scott Berkun answers these and many other questions you may have on leadership and project management. As a former manager for major companies like Microsoft and WordPress, Berkun has years of experience both working on and managing successful projects.

In our guide, we’ll not only go over what it takes to be a strong leader and project manager, but we’ll also explore the different phases of a typical project—planning, design, and building—and what a manager can do during each phase to ensure a project’s success. Throughout the guide, we’ll further explore insights on leadership and project management from other experts in these fields.

Join Mel Robbins and KC Davis on The Mel Robbins Podcast as they delve into the topic of self-care and everyday task management, challenging societal norms about constant hustle. The team asserts the need for self-compassion, particularly during stressful times, and helps listeners navigate the path towards maintaining a healthier self- perception. Emphasis is placed on avoiding self-blame and understanding that making mistakes and learning from them is an integral part of being human.

The conversation shifts towards daily task management strategies with Davis introducing easy-to-implement, practical solutions that facilitate task fulfilment without overwhelming oneself. The notion of equitable rest, mental well-being and the importance of kindness are all folded into this thought-provoking discussion. Notably, this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast fosters a paradigm shift from societal expectations to an empathetic environment encouraging personal growth.