Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

7 Letters from Famous Writers Sharing Fantastic Writing Advice

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“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” — Blaise Pascal

I love reading the journals and correspondence of famous writers. It’s a wonderful way to get a peek into their writing process, and often you’ll discover exquisite gems — fantastic advice you can use to become a better writer. 

That quote attributed to Blaise Pascal is one example. It’s an excellent reminder to examine your writing and see if there are any parts you could leave out — unnecessary repetition, irrelevant tangents, etc. Unfortunately for Pascal’s friend, Pascal didn’t have time to edit his letter. I hope the unedited letter was entertaining. 😉

In today’s blog post, I’ve highlighted the best writing advice from letters from seven different famous writers. Enjoy!

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A Powerful Productivity Tip To Help You Reach Your Writing Goals (Video)

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I’m excited to share a new video with you today! It’s a productivity tip that I’ve found invaluable for reaching my personal writing goals.

This tip works best for writing projects or goals that don’t have a deadline attached (for example, creating a daily writing habit) or for projects where you can set your own deadlines. However, you can apply some of the strategies I mention in the video to other projects as well to make them easier to tackle.

I hope you find the tip helpful! I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

If you enjoy the video, it would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment. And make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’d like to see more videos like this one. Thanks for watching!

Why Writers Need An Email List & How to Get Started (Video)

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I’m excited to share the first video of 2021!

In this video, I look at three reasons why having an email list is so important if you’re a writer building an audience online, and why you should focus on beginning an email list or growing your email list in 2021.

I also share three quick and easy tips to help you get started.

I also just released a brand new course “Email Marketing for Writers” all about how to grow your email list fast and make money from your list. Check it out here.

As a thank you for being one of my subscribers and to celebrate launch week, the course is available for just $97 until Wednesday midnight (the price will go up to $125 after that).

If you have any questions about the course, leave a comment below. Or you can go ahead and check out all the details right here.

New Course: Grow Your Email List Fast

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To kick off the new year, I’m excited to announce the release of my new online course: “Email Marketing for Writers: Grow Your Email List Fast.”

A few years ago, I wrote a little eBook about how to grow an email list. But a lot has changed in the marketing and blogging world since I published that book. 

So I’ve updated and expanded it and turned it into a brand new course (now with a section on how to make money from your list).

You can get all the details about it on this page (and discover why an email list is so powerful and so important for writers).

As a thank you for being one of my subscribers and to celebrate launch week, the course is available for just $97 for the next seven days only (the price will go up to $125 after that).

Keep in mind that…

  1. This comprehensive, hands-on course leads you step-by-step from getting your very first email subscriber all the way to promoting your first product to your audience.
  2. With this course as your guide, you won’t have to worry anymore about how to promote your blog and writing and find your audience online. The course will equip you with the strategies for building a loyal community so you can help more people and be able to devote your time to the projects you’re passionate about.
  3. The price goes up next week. So if you want to start building an email list, be sure to sign up as soon as you can!

If you have any questions at all about the course, let me know in the comments. 🙂

Or you can go ahead and check out all the details right here.

Don’t put it off though! This offer will be gone in just a few days.

I can’t wait to help you on your journey to grow your online audience!

7 Inspiring Questions For A Personal Year-End Review

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2021 is right around the corner and for most of us it can’t come fast enough. We’re ready to turn the page on 2020 and start afresh.

However, it’s worthwhile to take a step back and put these past twelve months in perspective. At the end of each year, I do that by writing up a personal year-end review.

This exercise helps me set myself up for success in January. I reflect over what I achieved during the year, what obstacles I faced, and what lessons I learned. I try to think positively on the past year so I’ll be motivated and inspired as the new one begins.

The insights I gain help me choose my goals for the new year. I’m able to see what worked and what didn’t so I can draw up a plan of action. As the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

In today’s blog post, I’m sharing the seven questions from my annual review. Feel free to adapt them as you like — your answers can be a few sentences or several paragraphs long. It’s entirely up to you.

And you can still do this annual review even if December has passed. I usually write it up the last week of December, but I’ve also completed it at the beginning of January.

Let’s dive in.

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8 Strategies That Will Help You Improve Your Writing Skills

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Black journal and yellow pencil on wooden table. | 8 Strategies That Will Help You Improve Your Writing Skills
Photo by Aaron Burden

Ernest Hemingway once observed of writers,

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.

No matter where you are in your writing journey (maybe you’re just starting out or maybe you’re already a published author), there is always more to learn in order to improve your skills and inspire more people with your words.

In today’s post, I’m sharing eight ways you can become a better writer in the New Year.

These are the same steps I followed in 2019 and 2020 and that I plan to implement again in 2021.

Let’s dive in. [Read more…]

The Lost Diamond (Short Story)

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If you’re celebrating Christmas next week, I hope you have a lovely, joy-filled holiday. If you don’t celebrate or if this is a difficult time for you, I wish you peace and happiness this December.

And I have a little gift for you — I’ve just published this Christmas-themed short story:

The Lost Diamond (A Short Story)

“Laura did not notice the diamond was missing until the subway reached 42nd street. She had been playing with the engagement ring, twirling it back and forth around her finger, while she tried not to stare at the other passengers. When the subway stopped at the station platform, she jumped to her feet and bent down to collect her two shopping bags. It was then that she saw the ring’s empty prongs...”

I wrote this story several years ago so it depicts a New York City that will probably be a little different from 2020. I hope you enjoy the story! 🙂 Merry Christmas!

The Powerful Ingredient in ‘A Christmas Carol’ That Will Make Your Writing and Marketing Compelling

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Illustration of Scrooge and Marley's Ghost from the first edition of A Christmas Carol
Illustration from the first edition of A Christmas Carol | Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham via Victorianweb.org

Want to connect with other writers? Make sure to get your invitation to my private writing community on Facebook!

Every Christmas Eve, my whole family gathers around the TV to watch the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. It’s one of our favorite traditions.

(If you haven’t seen this version, you can watch it on YouTube here — I believe it’s the best film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic story.)

No matter how many times I watch it, my heart is always touched by each scene. I feel the happiness of the crowd at Fezziwig’s party. Tears come to my eyes when Bob Cratchit cries over his poor Tiny Tim.

But, most of all, I love Alastair Sim’s wonderful performance as Scrooge — how he convincingly portrays Scrooge’s change from heartless and tightfisted to kind and joyous.

You watch with delight as the once grim man can’t stop laughing and smiling and stunning all with his kindness, even while muttering to himself, “I don’t deserve to be so happy.”

What makes stories like A Christmas Carol so enthralling? Why do we love watching movies like these year after year?

In today’s post, let’s look at one ingredient that makes stories like A Christmas Carol so powerful and emotionally compelling. It’s an ingredient you can use to make any type of writing captivate your readers, whether you’re working on a short story, a blog post, or even a sales page. [Read more…]