By Jennifer Blanchard
This year there have been billions of articles about writing posted all over the Web, detailing everything from getting started to writing a first draft to self-editing to finding a publisher–and everything in between.
As a writer, I’m inspired by the words, ideas and thoughts of others. (I’m sure you are too.) And yesterday I was very inspired by Daniel Scocco’s post on Daily Blog Tips about taking part in a group writing project: By writing a 2009 Year in Review post on your blog.
So I’m doing just that.
I’ve compiled a list of the 43 most inspiring writing posts of 2009. This list is by no means exhaustive. There are probably thousands of other inspiring posts that I didn’t even come across during my reading this year. But these are the ones that inspired me most and so I wanted to share them all with you.
You’ll notice there are a lot of repeat authors. This is because some authors are just amazing and nail it pretty much every time. Larry Brooks, Joe Williams and Leo Babauta are three good examples of this.
I’ve included links to a few of my favorite Procrastinating Writers articles that I wrote this year, too.
Also, you’ll notice that not all the items on this list are specifically about writing, but I assure you, all of the advice given can be directly applied to both writing and/or overcoming procrastination.
I hope you enjoy reading the inspiring posts on this list as much as I did.
In no particular order, here are the 43 most inspiring writing advice posts of 2009:
- Never Try Anything, by Holly Lisle
- 10 Ways of Thinking That Lead to Writing Procrastination and Rebuttals on Those Thoughts, by Gina Hiatt, Ph.D.
- Things Procrastinators Fear, by Jennifer Blanchard
- 7 Productivity Tips for People Who Hate Getting Things Done, by Leo Babauta
- How to Stand Out from the Writing Crowd, by Joe Williams
- How to Accept Criticism with Grace and Appreciation, by Leo Babauta
- Strike A Balance Between Love and Your Love of Writing, by Donald E.W. Quist
- How to Turn Off Your Inner Editor, by Joe Williams
- How to Kill Your Excuses, by Leo Babauta
- The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See, by Larry Brooks
- Channel Your Emotions Into Your Writing, by Joe Williams
- What Are You Losing By Procrastinating? by Jennifer Blanchard
- Learn to Accept Responsibility for Your Choices and Actions, by Jennifer Blanchard
- What Do You Want to Achieve? by Jennifer Blanchard
- You Won’t Break Into the Publishing Business By Imitating Other Authors, by Larry Brooks
- How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas, by Ali Hale
- How Passion Can Transform Your Blog, by Leo Babauta
- Your Friends and Family Are Wrong, by Jane Friedman
- The Importance of Story Structure, by Sophie Johnson
- Why You Should Stop Waiting for Writing Inspiration, by Kat Eden
- Who You Are and Who You Ain’t, by James N. Frey
- One Big Way to Avoid a Headline Fail, by Brian Clark
- How to Defeat Burnout and Stay Motivated, by Jeffrey Tang
- 7 Steps to Playing a Much Bigger Game (with free workbook), by Dave Navarro
- The Truth of Writing, by Shelley M. DuPont
- The Sideways L: How to Use Misdirection to Make Your Readers Laugh, by Matthew Willard
- Understand the Difference Between An Idea, A Concept, A Premise and A Story, by Larry Brooks
- The Battle of Resistance, by Darrelyn Saloom
- Get Ride of “Should” Once and For All, by Jennifer Blanchard
- Infusing Your Fiction with Heart and Soul: An Exercise, by Larry Brooks
- How to Steal A Plot for Your Book (and get away with it), by Suzannah W. Freeman
- Why Weird Stuff Makes You Creative, by Mary Jaksch
And I had to include this series, because it’s by far the most inspiring series from 2009–Story Structure, an 11-part series, by Larry Brooks:
- Story Structure—Just Possibly the Holy Grail of Storytelling
- Story Structure Series, post #1: Introducing the 4 Parts of a Story
- Story Structure Series, post #2: Milestones Along the 4-Part Storytelling Road
- Story Structure Series, post #3: Five Missions for the Set-up of Your Story
- Story Structure Series, post #4: The Most Important Moment in Your Story (pt 1)
- Story Structure Series, post #5: The Most Important Moment in Your Story (pt. 2)
- Story Structure Series, post #6: Wrapping Your Head Around the Mid-Point Milestone
- Story Structure Series, post #7: The Most Important Moment in Your Story (pt. 3)
- Story Structure Series, post #8: The Second Plot Point
- Story Structure Series, post #9: Pinch Points
- Story Structure Series, post #10: The Most Important Moment (pt 4)—the Final Act
Whew…2009 has been one hell of a year! I’m very much looking forward to 2010 and all the inspiring words people will post throughout the blogosphere.
What posts inspired you this year? Please share the link in the comments below.
About the Author: Jennifer Blanchard is founder of Procrastinating Writers. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.
