publishing

The Ultimate(est) 5-Step Guide To Writing A Killer Blog Post

/ Stuart Danker / 79 Comments
Kid standing at the base of a high stairway

Photo: Jukan Tateisi

You’re reading this, so that means you’re most likely on WordPress. And if that’s the case, then you’re probably spending too much time reading other people’s posts instead of writing your own.

Wow, you might think, this guy has such an astute observation!

Elementary, my dear Watson. Most people are already born procrastinators, what more those who choose words as their form of expression.

Because if you can describe procrastination in five different ways, then you’re five times more likely to doing said procrastinating. Boom, quick maths.

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Wanna Be A Writer Wannabe? Well Do I Have The Secret Sauce For You

/ Stuart Danker / 76 Comments
Dog wearing sunglasses

Photo: Josh Rakower

First off, use clickbait titles. Because if nothing else works, at least you’ll have gotten one extra click to show off to your prospective clients.

But perhaps I’m jumping the gun here. Do forgive me.

So you wanna be a writer wannabe. Not just a writer, no. You actually want to live the writer’s life without actually putting in the work. I totally get it. After all, I was a wannabe for most of my writing life, because for most of my career, my days only consisted of business articles and fluff pieces.

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Craft Better Stories With These Seven Values

/ Stuart Danker / 43 Comments
Man staring at a bunch of newspapers

Photo: Filip Mishevski

The only qualification I had when I first started writing for a living was an accounting diploma. That, and some six years of hairdressing experience.

So I was surprised to get a call from a local NGO about my mentorship application I had sent in just the day before. Apparently, someone like me—who’d blundered from one writing niche to another—did have something to offer the next generation.

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How To Get An Editor’s Attention

/ Stuart Danker / 26 Comments
Woman on phone in office

Photo: Dane Deaner

I remember reading a travel magazine and browsing the list of editors and writers, wondering how I could secure such a sweet gig. I used to picture these writers as a team of handpicked talents, each so sure of their craft, writers who could fly to Myanmar and find themselves a story behind every temple.

I would later land one such job and learn that things weren’t so mystical behind the scenes. The writers had trouble coming up with story ideas, their work often met the chopping block, and the editorial team didn’t function as smoothly as I had thought it would.

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