Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

How to Keep a Writing Notebook: A Peek into the Notebooks of Famous Writers & Thinkers

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Spiral ring notebook next to iPad

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Ever have one of those days?

You need to write a new blog post, but you can’t think of any interesting ideas. Or maybe you’re trying to write a short story but can’t get past the first line.

What do you do when you run up against a creative block?

Many famous writers would have reached for their writing notebooks. W. Somerset Maugham, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Joan Didion, John Steinbeck, and Damon Knight are among the famous writers who kept a notebook to collect ideas and help them out of creative ruts.

Today, let’s take a peek into the notebooks of famous writers and thinkers to see the many different ways we can use a physical notebook or a note taking app on a computer or smartphone to boost creativity and beat writer’s block. [Read more…]

How to Supercharge Your Writing Productivity: Anthony Trollope’s Strategy for Writing 45+ Books

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Pen writing in cursive on lined paper

Want to supercharge your writing productivity but feel like you struggle to concentrate when you sit down to write?

It can be hard for us writers to find time to write in the first place, but when we finally do manage to carve out those precious hours, it is very frustrating when we can’t stay focused on our writing.

Enter Anthony Trollope.

One of the most successful novelists of the Victorian era, Trollope figured out a daily writing routine that had him churning out books with astounding speed. Over the course of 35 years, he wrote 47 novels as well as many short stories, nonfiction books, and plays.

Even more impressive, he did all this while working a demanding job as a post office inspector. His job required him to travel often and keep a busy schedule.

That meant that when he sat down to write, he needed to make sure he met his daily word count goal.

So how did he do it? Read on to discover Trollope’s unique strategy. [Read more…]

5 Famous Authors’ Strategies for Conquering Writer’s Block

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open notebook on table next to cup of coffee

Has this ever happened to you?

You sit down at your computer to begin writing, but instead you find yourself having a stare down with the blank screen.

You may type a few lines, but after several minutes you delete everything. You just can’t seem to find the right words to continue.

It’s as if your inspiration inkwell has suddenly dried up.

If you are suffering from writer’s block (or have suffered in the past), you are not alone!

Even famous writers have struggled with creative blocks at some point in their careers. Thankfully, many of these writers have also shared their methods for how they overcame these dry periods and became successful writers.

Read on for the different strategies five famous authors have used to overcome writer’s block and keep typing away. [Read more…]

Ernest Hemingway on What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up on Writing

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open notebook with blank pages and pencil resting on top of it
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash

It was 1922, and a 23-year-old Ernest Hemingway had just experienced one of the most devastating blows to his writing career.

A blow so devastating that he did not think he could ever write fiction again.

In fact, he seriously considered giving up on his dreams of becoming a famous novelist.

But eventually something within him drove him back to his typewriter.

He kept writing.

Four years later, he had completed The Sun Also Rises, and over thirty years later, he had won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Are there obstacles, interruptions, and distractions threatening to sabotage your writing goals in the New Year? Here’s what Hemingway can teach us about remaining dedicated to our craft even when life seems set on undermining our plans. [Read more…]

Are You the Greatest Enemy of Your Creative Success?

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Book Illustration Depicting Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in a Train Cabin
Arthur Conan Doyle disliked writing detective stories so much that he killed off Sherlock Holmes. | Illustration by Sidney Paget

Have you ever started writing a story or a blog post and felt like it wasn’t turning out the way you had envisioned it in your head?

The words aren’t flowing quite the way you would like. Yet, you spent so much time working on it, that you decide to hit publish.

And your audience loves it.

In fact, they love it even more than anything else you have written. They demand more of the same.

What are you to do? Is your writing really as bad as you think?

Something similar happened to Arthur Conan Doyle. [Read more…]