5 Things Only Serious Writers Do: Part Two

In Part Two of this special edition of the show we traditionally call “writer porn” I’ve invited back my old friend, award-winning international journalist, author, pundit, and bad penny, Adam Skolnick, to discuss with me a piece I wrote recently for Copyblogger titled, “5 Things Only Serious Writers Do.”

There are never enough words to thank all of you who reached out last week with your sweet thoughts, virtual hugs, and notes of encouragement following the sadder half of the show.

So on to the matter at hand …

As writers we all have our varied neuroses, methods of madness, well-worn manuals, muses, writer porn, and incantations that we feel grant us the strength to face the blank page.

But there are five fundamental things that set serious writers apart from the crowd, and Adam and I are going to discuss them.

You can find 5 Things Only Serious Writers Do here to follow along.

Adam Skolnick’s narrative nonfiction book, One Breath: Freediving, Death, and the Quest to Shatter Human Limits — based on his award-winning New York Times sports reporting — is now available in paperback.

In addition to his recent journalism, Adam has visited 45 countries and contributed to over 30 Lonely Planet guidebooks. He has written for ESPN.com, Men s Health, Outside, BBC, Playboy Magazine, and The NY Times, and has appeared on NPR.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.

If you missed the first half you can find it right here.

In Part Two of this file some highlights include:

• How all serious writers share a connective tissue
• Why work ethic outlasts talent every time
• The fallacy of motivation vs the power of habit and small incremental steps
• Why sitting down and getting started is often the hardest thing for writers
• What to write when you don’t know what to say
• On shitty first drafts as grist for the mill
• The unglamorous origins of the sentence
• Why deadlines are the pressure that make a diamond

• Sign up here if you’d like details about Copyblogger’s “small but mighty” checklist to help you publish great content every time
• 5 Things Only Serious Writers Do: Part One
• More Writer Files in the Archives at Copyblogger
• 5 Things Only Serious Writers Do– Kelton Reid for Copyblogger
• What s Your Writing Productivity Type? (with Bec Evans of Prolifiko): Part One
• How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing
• The Best of The Writer s Brain Part Four: Writer s Block
• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
• How to Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind– Olga Khazan for The Atlantic
• Several Short Sentences About Writing– Verlyn Klinkenborg
• How WNYC Podcast Host and Author of ‘Bored and Brilliant’ Manoush Zomorodi Writes
• How to Be Bored– Eva Hoffman
• Adam Skolnick on Instagram
• OneBreathbook.com
• AdamSkolnick.com
• Adam Skolnick on Twitter
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices