Letters for Creatives #21: Writing advice from great writers and indie author spotlight
Sharing my book review
Hello, I am Celeste. Each week I write about marketing, creativity and writing. You can read the first and second interview for the Interview with an artist series.
Get inspired to write with February prompts here and have a chance to get your writing featured in a future newsletter after you sign up. You will have a free poetry book and Spotify playlist for writing from me in the first email when you sign up. You can read the archive as well.
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A mysterious group do these things to get inspired
Image: Daniel Schludi on Unsplash
I often think about how I can improve my writing. It is useful to learn from great writers and how they succeed or fail, so we can find our way to improve. This article tells you some writing advice from Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene, Elizabeth Gilbert and other great writers.
When I mentioned self-improvement, I cannot skip the topic of perfectionism. I have been a perfectionist my whole life and it is not great. I know that I can never meet my unrealistically high standards. I have burnt out for way too many times because of perfectionism. This in-depth article shows you how we can stop being so demanding of ourselves, if you are a perfectionist like me.
Indie author spotlight
I have been reading and enjoying poetry and short stories by some of my fellow poets. They are the ones who never ever disappoint me and even inspire me to be a better writer. So I want to showcase my fellow indie authors today.
Colin Tan
When Samantha told me about Colin’s work and I started to read them, I was left speechless most of the time. I was either trying to think it through or be amazed by his way of storytelling.
His poems and proses have a quality of short stories, which are very similar to flash fiction on Twitter, that I can only admire by reading them. Believe it or not, he influenced me to go more towards storytelling and let readers think it through, instead of giving away all the details.
Great writing leaves you wanting more. You often find yourself thinking about it for hours, if not for days. This poem cannot be more sarcastic at this moment. Please see details at the end.
His book The Man Who Ate My Arms is available as a paperback and Kindle on Amazon. I am looking forward to reading his upcoming fiction that he is working on. Read his mysterious short stories and poetry on Instagram @juxtaproser.
Karlye Alana
I am always captivated by Karlye’s writing on Instagram. Her storytelling skill is top-notch. If you asked me to choose between Colin and Karlye, I cannot because they are both amazing storytellers.
Her book Mosaic is available as a paperback on Amazon. Read her captivating short stories and poetry on Instagram @mamasshakespeare.
Diane Lato
I do not know where to start with Diane because her poems captivate me all the time. I can rely on her for some high-quality poems.
Her book Late Flowers Die Last is available as a paperback on Amazon. Her Goodreads is just her name. Read her otherwordly beautiful poetry on Instagram @diane_writes.
Buy their books in the paperback form if you love their work. They only earn pennies per copy (That is an exaggeration but they are not making bank obviously). Leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads if you absolutely love their work. Do not forget to tag them on Instagram when your copy arrives. It makes their day a perfect one.
Until next time,
Celeste
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