I'd do these 15 things if I had to start over as a writer today. .

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15. Publish. Publish. Publish. Publishing is the single most important lever you can crank up to improve your results as a writer. Publishing gives you a chance to receive feedback, establish credibility with an audience, and even make money from writing.

14. Be more observant to find inspiration. The world is super interesting if you just take a second to watch what is happening around you. It’s easy to get distracted or tone out everything in your environment, but doing so could leave you feeling dull or unexcited.

13. Stay on topic. A lot of writing, especially writing on the internet is about understanding what your readers are looking for, and then giving it to them as clearly and quickly as possible. Your writing should be laser-focused, so you don't waste your readers’ time.

12. Use frameworks to improve my writing. Copywriting frameworks are like formulas that you can use to make your writing more persuasive and effective. Starting with a framework helps you to meet your audiences needs more automatically.

11. Be as succinct as possible. "He is a very happy man" should be shortened to "he is happy". Using “very” might feel like it makes your writing stronger, but it doesn’t. Maybe he is elated, or he is oozing with enthusiasm. But adding "very" is pointless.

10. Study "good" writing. This may seem obvious, but to be a better writer you should study writing. Rather than passively accepting the things you read, consider why the person who wrote them said them a certain way. And think of how you would have said it better.

9. Write about my personal experiences. If there’s one thing you’ll never run out of, it’s personal experiences to write about. If you feel like you’ve run out of things to say, think of an experience in your life that had a big impact on you.

8. Learn how to self-edit. You can publish more easily and more often if you can edit your own work. If you can edit as you write, you won’t have to spend a ton of time editing later. This plays a key role in increasing your publishing velocity.

7. Keep an organized collection of my thoughts. Writers need a system for jotting down the thoughts and ideas that come into their heads at random points in the day, or in the middle of the night. Use the Notes app and you can search through them later.

6. Find more opportunities to write. You don’t have to limit yourself to any one particular writing style or genre. Every chance you get to collect your thoughts and put them on paper—and then publish them for feedback, is a chance to grow and gain confidence as a writer.

5. Read more. Everything you read gives you exposure to new vocabulary, new styles of writing, new ideas to think about, and much more. If you’re very new at writing, it can be helpful to read published work that is similar to what you’d like to write.

4. Improve my grammar. You don’t have to use perfect grammar to be a successful writer. But thanks to modern tools like Grammarly (or ChatGPT) your writing can at least get closer to polished work ready for publishing.

3. Improve my thinking. The more regularly you call on your brain to come up with new ideas, the stronger that skill becomes. You’ll find yourself walking through the grocery store and you’ll just have a thought come to you that you can write about.

2. Develop a journaling habit. Journaling is like practice writing. It gives you reps, without the pressure of publishing things for others to see. If you wanted to be a professional baseball player, you’d have to practice. Writing works the same way.

1. Take writing courses. Writing courses are powerful, because they are an easy way to get valuable feedback on your work. You could write for hours every day, but if you aren’t getting other opinions on your writing, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to improve.

Feeling like it would be cool to hang in a barbershop on a dusty old town street — with a little Robert Johnson playing in the background.

RT @TheRiAnderson: We like doing things that we are good at. When you first start improving your health, it blows because of the learning….

Happy Halloween Y’all 🎃