![You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by [Goins, Jeff]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Qlyp6LY6L._SY346_.jpg)
I really liked Jeff's book. He hooked me in the beginning with his sage advice that identifying yourself as a writer is absolutely allowed to happen before you get a check in the mail. Once he has built up your confidence, he gets into the meat and potatoes of establishing a peer network, dealing with editors, and handling your own self-doubt, which is often more crippling than negative reviews to the budding author -- heck, probably to a fair number of the seasoned ones as well.
What I appreciated just as much as the valuable insight and content of Jeff's work was his conciseness. When you're writing with the goal of your readers' understanding, impressing them with your flowing prose and pretentiously large vocabulary should be much further down, if at all, on your list. I've read many advice books that could have been pamphlets, and were stretched to needless lengths to substantiate them. I understand repetition for the sake of letting new ideas to sink in, but I know drivel when I read it. Fortunately, Jeff practices what he preaches, and gives a clean, concise book of valuable information, that is also fun to read. You can feel him wanting his audience to understand, and most of all, to succeed. A great book for the beginning writer's repertoire.
Review
"In You Are a Writer, Jeff Goins shares the truth aboutwriting. He provides the tools and insights you need to build yourplatform, develop an audience, and make meaningful connections. Nowriter should embark on his or her writing journey without reading thisfirst!"
-Michael Hyatt // Author, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
"Writers! Read this by Jeff Goins. Seriously. Go."
-Carrie Wilkerson // Author, The Barefoot Executive
"As an academic who doesn't have a marketing bone in my body, Jeff Goins helped me understand branding for my blog in a new way."
-Elizabeth Chapin
"Writers now have the option of building an audience, a brand, andaffecting thousands -- maybe millions -- of people with their words. Jeffis showing you the door. The question is, will you open it and put yourfoot forward?"
-Paul Jun
-Michael Hyatt // Author, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
"Writers! Read this by Jeff Goins. Seriously. Go."
-Carrie Wilkerson // Author, The Barefoot Executive
"As an academic who doesn't have a marketing bone in my body, Jeff Goins helped me understand branding for my blog in a new way."
-Elizabeth Chapin
"Writers now have the option of building an audience, a brand, andaffecting thousands -- maybe millions -- of people with their words. Jeffis showing you the door. The question is, will you open it and put yourfoot forward?"
-Paul Jun
From the Author
Hi, my name's Jeff. And I'm a writer. But I didn't always think of myself that way. In fact, for years, I dreamed of one day becoming a writer. But secretly, I was afraid of the risk. It took a gentle but firm rebuke from a friend to realize the dead-end course I was on, to finally understand who I was. After that, I was never the same.
One day, a friend asked me about my dream. I said I didn't know. "Really?" he said. "That's too bad -- because I would've thought it was to be a writer."
That hit me hard. I told him that was true. I did hope to be a writer. Maybe. Some day. If I was lucky.
He shook his head and smiled: "Jeff, you don't have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write." So that's what I did, and it changed everything.
This is an eBook about a journey of becoming a writer. It's a guide to writing and publishing, including how to navigate the world of platform-building and getting your work noticed. Mostly, it's about believing in yourself. About the process of self-doubt we all go through and the declarations we make to do what were made to do.
Whether you realize it or not, you are a writer. You just need to write.
One day, a friend asked me about my dream. I said I didn't know. "Really?" he said. "That's too bad -- because I would've thought it was to be a writer."
That hit me hard. I told him that was true. I did hope to be a writer. Maybe. Some day. If I was lucky.
He shook his head and smiled: "Jeff, you don't have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write." So that's what I did, and it changed everything.
This is an eBook about a journey of becoming a writer. It's a guide to writing and publishing, including how to navigate the world of platform-building and getting your work noticed. Mostly, it's about believing in yourself. About the process of self-doubt we all go through and the declarations we make to do what were made to do.
Whether you realize it or not, you are a writer. You just need to write.
