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Full disclosure: I receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post, and I assure you, it will buy me lots of coffee so I can continue making great stories for you and sharing my insights along the way.
Content in this article:
Better Your Writing Craft
Grow Your Fanbase (Platform building)
Learn the Business/Marketing
Personal Development
My Top Affirmations
What I tell everyone is that writing is a craft—something you learn and improve as you practice. My favorite analogy is that of an artist: to become an oil painter, you first have to learn how to work with oil paint. For example, you can’t clean your brushes with water; you need a chemical thinner, which can be harmful to you if the room isn’t properly ventilated.
Just as mastering painting involves many layers, mastering writing has its own complexities.
In addition to reading within your genre (which is crucial because it helps you understand what your readers expect), it’s essential to study the craft itself. In this section, I’ve shared my top favorite books on writing.
1 Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
If you’re asking, what does ‘save the cat’ mean? It’s a saying in the writing community first created by Blake Snyder (a screen writer). In short, let’s say you have a nasty main character who nobody would like. It’s important to make him likeable to your reader or they won’t root for him and therefore, will give up on your story. So, have this unlikable character save a cat from a tree. Instant likeability.
That is pretty much what ‘save the cat’ means, but it does not reach the depth of how awesome this book is. Jessica Brody is a multi-time New York Times best seller. And in this book, she teaches pansters (those who write without a plan) and plotters (those who write with a plan) how to write a novel that will steal their readers hearts every time.
If you read nothing else on this list of mine, author friend, read this book. It will make writing 100x easier!
2 The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
This book will take what Jessica Brody teaches you in “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” and add that final layer. The Emotional Craft of Fiction will help you make your reader cry when you want them to cry, laugh when you want them to laugh, and fall for your character without fail.
For every book I write, I reference Jessica Brody’s book above and then listen to this one with my audible account. By incorporating both books, I know my stories are deep and emotional in all the right places!
Other recommendations:
My YouTube Channel Abby Arthur Books
You knew I’d have a selfless plug in here somewhere, right? But honestly, I have a few videos up explaining a way to approach short stories. If you didn’t know, short story writing can help with novel writing because you can complete a whole story faster, helping you learn the craft better.
I do have a plan to put out more videos in early 2025 or so. But until then, the series on short stories that I have can be a nice starting point for you.
Hack Your Readers Brain by Jeff Gerke
This is a great, quick read that helped me see how human’s respond to story.
The Last Fifty Pages by James Scott Bell
Teaches you how to write endings that don’t suck. My favorite quote from this book is “The first five pages sell your current book, the last fifty pages sell your next book.”
If you don’t nail your ending (say it’s too predictable or too unexpected) your readers will be disappointed that they waisted all their time reading your story. This book by James Scott Bell will teach you to do it right.
5,000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox
This book teaches you how to step back in your mind and write like crazy. Sometimes, you’re holding yourself back by overthinking, so a great way to break out of that is to do writing sprints. This concept is where you write as much as you can, as fast as you can, without going back or editing for a set amount of time. Authors tend to do this anywhere from 5-20 minutes. They even get their writing buddies involved.
The concept is great because it gets that first draft out FAST.
Romancing the Beats by Gwen Hayes
I love this book because, as I’m not always writing a romance-focused story, Gwen helps you see how to make your side romances work, too. I don’t know why, but as I’ve delved deeper into writing, this one part has been my struggle. So if you know your romances aren’t as good as they could be (or your betas are telling you so) check out this book!
Growing your fanbase, or as you’ll often hear it called—building your platform—is fundamental to your author business. Think of it like a store trying to sell products, if they had no customers, nothing would sell. But if they had no returning customers, they would go out of business just as fast. Your fanbase are those returning customers, your superfans, the people who love you and will read every darned thing you write.
However, these fans aren’t just customers, in fact, don’t think of them as costumers from here on out, because they are your PEOPLE, the whole reason you write to make these people fall in love with your characters, and if you do everything right, they will!
Strangers to Superfans by David Gaughran
David is my favorite guy to study from. He’s so real and funny. I’m on his mailing list, and if you are an Indie author (the cool term for self-published), I recommend you join too! Here, I’ll make it easy for you, join David’s list here, you’ll even get his book, “Following: A Marketing Guide to Author Platform”. It’s exclusive to his email list, and free! (Can you tell how much I love this guy? 🤔)
Anyway, he helps you see how selling a book to every single person in the world just isn’t the way to do business. You are writing for one tribe, your superfans. And they are where your success is. 😊
Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque
Let me take a moment and give a “Thank You” shout out to Tammi. This lady taught me how to get real, relax, and talk to my fans like a human being! She also kicked my butt and told me to treat my fans nicely no matter the size of my email list. Sometimes, we authors (me) get stuck on wanting a surplus of fans, and we forget that every fan is a real person, and they want to hear from us.
Read Tammi’s book to know how to grow your fanbase well, the first time.
At this point, I think it’s wise to say, becoming an author does not happen over night. And learning all aspects of it takes YEARS! Mastering writing alone can take a long long long time. But learning from the professionals will make it take much less time than if you go at it alone.
The good news, learning the business side of writing won’t take as long as mastering writing will. (Though, it’s not always as fun, let’s be honest.) There are many paid programs to teach you amazon ads and the lot. I am currently in those courses, and I’ll link to them here if they prove to be worth my time. For now, here are some of the books that helped me get on the right track.
Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean M. Platt and Johnny Truant with David Wright
This is a quick run down of how the business works. Read it for an overview in a funny, engaging voice. Sean and Johnny are trail blazers in this business, and were writing eBooks way before it was cool.
Writing Killer Blurbs and Hooks by Adam Croft
There’s a tone of content out there to help write blurbs and hooks. I personally love what you will find in the book above (Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody). However, this book is also good to mention because Adam knows his stuff, too. He writes amazing ads to help catch his readers attention, and let’s be honest, it’s good practice to study a topic from different people (I try to shoot for at least 3 perspectives 😉). So read this book once you finish Save the Cat, and you’re in the marketing phase.
I know what you’re thinking. Writing is my life, I L-O-V-E it. I will never ever ever get burnt out.
I get it, I love writing, too! … But sometimes life gets to be too much, and that too much gets into your writing, and you sink into a black whole of yuk.
So, this section is important! Not just for when you’re in that black hole, but BEFORE you get stuck there. Personal Development will keep your brain sharp, your emotions lifted, and give you “anti-black-hole” powers when it tries to pull you in.
The Quote of the day show with Sean Croxton
Sean, my man! I’ve listened to him since his show was back in the early 100 episodes. And I listened to his show daily for a solid 3 years. Now I do it often, but find myself reading all the books he recommends. So Sean is a constant in my life.
The episodes are less than 15 minutes. So I fit them in when I’m getting ready for work, or when I’m driving to work. (Yes, I currently have a part time job. But I’m working towards changing that soon 😉).
My number one recommendation is episode 1221: Dr Srini Pillay “An exceptional life is a life of low probability”
All quote of the days are superb, so if one doesn’t jive with you, just listen to another. This podcast can be found on any place podcasts are listed.
The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman
If you’re daunted by a task that seems too big (like this entire author career facing you) I highly recommend this book by Josh. The first three chapters of “The First 20 Hours” gave me understanding in how to face challenging tasks. In short, he explains how it’s natural for something new to make zero sense, and for us to give up because it seems too hard. However, our brains are amazing, and the more we work at something (even if it makes no sense) it will start to make sense because your brain is a genius and literally creates pathways within itself to help you learn. In that way, what was hard becomes bearable and then becomes doable. Check this book out. It will be such a help through any struggle you face trying to learn something new.
Life Unlocked by Srinivansan Pillay
This book shows you how unconscious fear (which we all have even without knowing) wants to hold us back from our dreams because our brains think they are protecting us. I just started this book at the time of writing this post, and it’s profound. I had to put it here already. If you’re trying to make a career out of your writing, and you think you are doing everything you can, yet you’re getting nowhere, read this book to find your breakthrough!
Mindset is the most important factor in succeeding as an author. It gives you the strength to persevere when challenges arise—and they will arise. Whether you’re feeling burned out in Act 3 of your story or overwhelmed by marketing strategies, mindset is key to pushing through.
I understand what you’re going through. I’ve been there myself, and sometimes I still find myself in those tough spots. But the way I move forward is by maintaining a strong and positive mindset.
Below, I’ve shared some of my favorite affirmations for writing, business, and personal development. I hope they inspire and support you as much as they do for me!
Side Note* I like to listen to all of these while walking either outside or on my treadmill. So you don’t HAVE to sit still to make these work for you. 🙂
If you watch this video on YouTube, you’ll find timestamps in the description, making it easy to jump to your favorite part. I usually go straight to the verbal affirmations, and sometimes I let the subliminals play—it depends on my mood. On days when I’m feeling down, I like to keep the subliminals playing on my phone and carry it with me throughout the day.
That’s all I have for now.
Good luck with your writing and work hard. I can’t wait to see what you create!
-Abby Arthur, Fantasy Author