I read a lot. But only about once a year do I find a book that really changes me and makes a lasting impact on my life, or my business, or both. One of the most influential was Good to Great by Jim Collins.
This year, my OMG-I-Iove-this book is Everybody Writes by Ann Handley.
Like a lot of people, I have a complicated relationship with writing. I mean, I majored in math. Words weren’t always my thing. In fact, I may not have become an author if Garr Reynolds hadn’t bugged me about it for so long. Even now, three books later, I struggle with second-guessing myself.
Everybody Writes taught me at least 50 new things that gave me the confidence to tackle writing projects big and small, and helped me learn that writing can be fun.
You don’t have to be an author to appreciate the lessons. Everybody Writes is full of useful lessons for anybody who writes, which really is everybody. Blogs, tweets, and e-mails let you connect with people across the world and give everybody the power to build their own platform, but they all start with good writing.
Whether you’re a best-selling author or you’re crafting your first tweets, Everybody Writes will help you write better, enjoy writing more, and avoid the worst writing mistake of all—giving up before you start.
Last week I got a chance to interview Ann (and I mostly ended up gushing about how funny she is) but we ended up talking about her book, too.
Watch the footage here:
Duarte video: Nancy Duarte and Author Ann Handley discuss humor in writing and how to create great content
According to her bio, “Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs; a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, mom, and writer.” According to Ann, she’s a procrastinator and perfectionist. According to me, she’s one of the smartest, funniest gals on the planet.
Learn more about Everybody Writes and pick up a copy.
