Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

The 5 Best Passages from Books I Read in 2025

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I sent out this blog post exclusively to the email list in February. If you’d like to read my articles before they’re shared here on the blog and receive other exclusive content, make sure to subscribe to the email newsletter.

December and January were a whirlwind of activity for me: first the holidays, and then diving back into my work at the marketing agency. In my spare time, I’ve tried to make progress on writing projects and other creative endeavors. I’ll share more about that in upcoming newsletters.

I hope your start to the new year has been less hectic than mine. May these first months of 2026 bring you many new ideas for your stories! 

At the start of the year, it’s become a tradition for the blog that I share my favorite passages from books I read the previous year. These are passages that struck me with their eloquence. I love writing them down so I can further study the author’s techniques for structure and style. 

Without further ado…

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How to Create Unforgettable Characters: Studying the Techniques of Famous Authors

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At the end of last year, I completed the first draft of a novel. When I returned to edit the manuscript a few months later, I discovered that several of the characters felt a bit one dimensional, and I needed to develop them further.

But what was the best way to make them truly come alive on the page? What ingredients did my characters need?

I’ve studied many books on plotting and the craft of writing, but I realized that I’d never done a deep study of characters. So I decided to examine the techniques of masterful writers across the ages.

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How F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Writing Process Will Make You a Better Writer

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In 1939, F. Scott Fitzgerald was suffering from ill health and struggling to make a living as a screenwriter in Hollywood. 

While his early novels This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned had skyrocketed him to fame during the splendid years of the Jazz Age, that fame was short-lived.

It’s hard to believe now, but The Great Gatsby published in 1925 was a commercial flop selling only 20,000 copies. 

His novel Tender is the Night, published in 1934, sold even fewer, a mere 12,000 copies.

Yet, despite these disappointments, Fitzgerald didn’t abandon his writing.

He had an idea for a new story that he believed could become the greatest novel he’d ever written and restore him to his place as one of America’s most renowned writers.

But there was one problem. His failing health meant he couldn’t work on it alone.

So that spring he contacted an employment agency to help him find a secretary.

And that’s how 22-year-old Frances Kroll, newly arrived in Los Angeles, came to get a behind the scenes peek at how Fitzgerald wrote a novel.

Many years later, Kroll wrote a memoir Against the Current: As I Remember F. Scott Fitzgerald. She shared her experience working with Fitzgerald during the last twenty months of his life on the book he hoped would be his magnum opus.

I discovered this memoir this past year and found it to be a fascinating glimpse into the mind of this famous writer.

By analyzing Kroll’s anecdotes about working with Fitzgerald, I was able to reconstruct his writing process. 

Best of all, this led me to uncover invaluable lessons that I believe can help any writer whether you’re just starting out or are looking to refine your craft.

So, did Fitzgerald succeed in finishing this book before he died? Did it end up eclipsing the storytelling of The Great Gatsby? 

Keep reading to find out and get a peek into Fitzgerald’s writing process. If you prefer watching to read, you can watch the video version of this blog post below.

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The 5 Best Passages from Books I Read Last Year: Powerful Techniques for Captivating Description

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Last year, I wrote a post sharing the best passages from books I’d read in 2023. I enjoyed writing it so much that I decided to write up a new version for 2025. Again, I read over twenty books, both fiction and nonfiction, last year. As I read, I tried to pay attention to the authors’ techniques: how they implemented storytelling principles, how they handled transitions, how they crafted their opening sentences and concluding paragraphs, how they wrote captivating descriptions, and much more.

When I came across a paragraph that struck me with its eloquence, I wrote it down. That helped me study it on an even deeper level and absorb the author’s techniques for structure and style.

In today’s post, I’m sharing five of the best passages (in no particular order) that I collected this past year and what I learned from them, focusing in particular on their powerful descriptions. Let’s dive in.

(I’ve also made a video version of this post that you can watch below.)

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How to Write Like John Steinbeck: Techniques for Powerful Prose

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Photo of John Steinbeck's book "Travels with Charley"

This summer, I read Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck. In this fascinating travelogue, Steinbeck blends truth with a touch of fiction as he recounts a 1960 road trip he took across the United States accompanied by his faithful poodle, Charley.

Steinbeck is a masterful writer. It was interesting to read his musings on the different states and see how he turns ordinary moments into memorable stories (though his description of the school protest in New Orleans was saddening). 

While reading, I wrote down any passages that particularly struck me with their eloquence. That helped me study them on an even deeper level and fully appreciate Steinbeck’s techniques for structure and style.

In today’s post, I’m sharing three passages where Steinbeck recounts his travels in New England during the fall. I thought they would be particularly fitting as I am returning to blogging here in September after taking a break from the blog over the summer. Tomorrow is the first official day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere!

Let’s see what techniques Steinbeck uses that we can steal to make our own writing more powerful.

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