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5 Books You Must Read This Year · The Daily Writer

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Writer.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Each weekday, we bring you a short lesson that helps you live out the four practices of a great writer: creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the weekend edition, we take a deeper dive into those topics through conversations with writers and teaching that helps us apply what we're learning.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the things that we talk about frequently here on this podcast is the importance of reading.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love this quote by Ray Bradbury.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: He said, just write every day of your life.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Read intensely, then see what happens.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, most of the time as writers, we think about our output.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We spend most of our time worried about the content we're creating, whether it's blog posts, podcasts, books, articles, or client work.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: But the basis for that content has to come from somewhere.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: There has to be input.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our work as writers can't just be focused on what we're writing or what we're creating or the output side of things.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why reading is such a critical part of what we do as writers and content creators.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I've talked about the importance of reading before here on this podcast.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, back on September 1st, just a few months ago, I did an episode called 10 Ways to Read More in Less Time.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't heard that episode, I encourage you to go back and listen to it.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, just a little caveat when you listen to that episode, it's going to be called the Smart Business Writing Podcast.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: That was before I rebranded this as the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you hear that and wonder what's going on, it's this is still the same podcast.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was just called something different uh last year.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So on this episode today, I want to share five books that I believe every writer should read this year.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Why five books?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's a doable number.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes whenever you see something like a top 10 list, it can feel kind of overwhelming and you think, man, 10 books is a lot.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, that's not something I can keep track of, but five books is something I can kind of hang on to mentally.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Five books is something I can get on Amazon.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I can order two or three of those as used books or new books, and it's not going to be super expensive.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to keep this manageable, which is why I chose the number five for five books that I think you must read this year.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in the show notes and in the blog post that accompanies this episode, I'll have links to each of those books on Amazon.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I encourage you to buy those and read those this year.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll get into what those are here in just a little bit.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one thing I want to mention is that some of the books that I talk about on this episode are books that we will be using for the book discussions we do every month in our Daily Writer membership community.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you've heard me talk about the Daily Writer community before here on the show.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is a group of energetic, generous writers who know that you can go further and faster in your journey if you're traveling with others.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And this group features weekly writing sprints, courses, expert calls, writing prompts, weekly wins and goals, and much, much more.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, this past Thursday, it was our monthly book discussion call, and we focused on Stephen King's amazing book on writing, which you've probably heard of and possibly even have read as well.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's also one of the books that I include on my list that I'll get to here in just a few minutes.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: But first, I want to take some time here on this episode to share some wins from the past week in our daily writer community.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I want to share a few of these and take a moment to reflect on why these are important.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason I do this is because I want you to know that people in our daily writer community are succeeding.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're making some amazing progress.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily just because they're part of this group, but the group is definitely enhancing their success.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: As I said a minute ago, they're able to run faster and further because they're running with a group.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive into a few wins from the group this past week.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Phyllis said, I have been editing a book for a friend, and he is super pleased with what I have done for him.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that is super awesome.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Congrats, Phyllis.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Phyllis is a professional storyteller and author, but notice that she's also doing work for other people.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to encourage you to think about how you can not just write your own stuff, but also help other authors with their stuff.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this might be doing editing, doing ghostwriting, being a beta reader, helping with some website work or whatever your particular skill set tends to be.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: When you help other writers with various aspects of their business and writing, it makes you a better writer and also you get to help other people be more successful, which is pretty cool.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: The next one is from Ashley Rescott.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: She said, I got a couple of challenging scenes written.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, way to go, Ashley.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well done.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: This shows that Ashley is pushing through the hard parts of her writing project and she's making steady progress.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what it's all about.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we think of putting together a book or we think of we think of big projects as something we've got to dive into, and it's going to be all this pain and heartache and blood, sweat, and tears and so forth.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it's all about just making that steady daily and weekly progress.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So Ashley, good job.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Way to go getting those challenging scenes tackled.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Our next win is from Lynn, who said, I made pre-COVID income for January, the first time since March of last year.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, that is awesome news for sure.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And here's a great lesson for all of us from Lynn's win from this past week.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's this even though COVID has thrown a lot of writers for a loop, Lynn kept on doing the work and pushing through the difficult times.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: She does freelance writing and a bunch of other writing-related things as well.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this is the same lesson that I talked about a second ago with Ashley's win.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Lynn has kept on doing the work day in and day out, and she has seen the results of it.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: So awesome job, Lynn.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Way to go.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Then the final win that I want to share is from Ken, who said, I finished chapter nine of my first draft.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm up to over 24,000 words of the first draft with three more chapters to go.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying very hard to just let it flow and not judge the writing in the moment.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: It seems that when I do that and I stop the worry of what words to use or how to structure it, my writing really seems to take off.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a really significant win.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Almost every writer that I talk to talks about how hard it is not to edit yourself as you write.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you're creating a first draft, you just have to get the words down and then go back and edit it later.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: There is, there are really two modes, I think, as a writer that you work in.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: There is creative mode when you're exploring and when you're creating and you're just kind of putting stuff out there.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's editing mode where you look at what you have, you're making it better, you're editing, and so forth.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So well done pressing forward, Ken.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Good job getting the words down.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, those are some really fantastic wins from this past week in the Daily Writer community.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: I am so proud of these guys and what they are accomplishing.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I would love for you to consider joining us as well.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can find out more by going to dailywriterlife.com slash community.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can find out about all the cool things that are included with your membership.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then you can hit that apply button at the bottom of the page.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So when you do that, that takes you to actually just a simple Google form where you fill out a few things.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: That goes to me, and then we set up a time to chat and then we go from there.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, I'd love to see you in the Daily Writer community.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Check it out, dailywriterlife.com slash community.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's get on to our topic for this episode, which is five books every writer should read this year.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And as I was thinking about which five books to recommend, my filter that I used was do these books help you get the work done?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a big problem that I see in the creative community and in the entrepreneur world as well is that there's a lot of talk about reading books, which is obviously great, but I don't want you to just read for the sake of reading.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I mean a lot of people read and they sort of like brag about, I read, you know, 50 books this year and I read all this stuff, but sometimes they don't take action on what they read.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that reading doesn't really have a lot of value if at some point all that reading and all that input doesn't result in in how you live.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't result in changing how you live, it doesn't result in growing your business, it doesn't result in becoming a more mature or a better person.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So reading just for the sake of reading, I think has limited value, but reading for the sake of life change has a lot of value.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's what I want us to focus on in this list.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there are lots and lots of great books out there that you can read and they're entertaining and they may inspire you and they may make you laugh or make you curious, which are all wonderful things.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: But on this particular list, I want to focus on books for writers that will actually help you get the writing done.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is one of my favorites, and that is On Writing a Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most popular books for writers, and there's a good reason for that.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it's funny, it's entertaining, it's helpful, and it's really, really encouraging.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, Stephen King is one of the most successful novelists of all time, and there's a pretty good chance that you have read at least one of his books.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know I've read a bunch of his books and I've been reading his stuff for decades.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So you would think that someone at his level of success, which is very, very high, you would think that someone like him might communicate ideas about success that seem out of reach for the average writer.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, it would be easy to think, well, Stephen King is obviously really, really successful.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a huge gap there between what he would say about writing and what I'm able to put into practice in my everyday life.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I have not found that to be the case at all in this book on writing.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, it's the opposite.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you read on writing, you get a clear sense that Stephen King really believes in you.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And even though the book itself is fantastic, the main thing I've always taken away from the book is that Stephen King is pulling for me to succeed as a writer and a storyteller.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there are a lot of writing teachers who are far less successful than him who come across almost in kind of a condescending way in their uh in their craft books, in their, you know, courses or webinars or or seminars or whatever.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes with these writing teachers, you get a sense of, well, this is the way that you must do it.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And and I have crafted this very intricate web of how to craft stories and how you must go about publishing your book and and all those kinds of things.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I really resonate with I resonate with writing teachers and authors who kind of come alongside me, they put their arm around me and they're like, hey, you could do it.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the way to do it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to encourage you and inspire you to help you take action as well.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the tone of voice that I tend to respond to the best.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I really get that sense of of that friendliness and that empathy and that compassion from Stephen King.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Here's one of the quotes from the book that I really love.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Stephen King says, While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad one, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, what he's saying is that everybody can be a writer, and not only that, everybody can be a better writer.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about the book itself for just a second.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: The book is broken up into two sections.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: In the first section, he tells the story of how he became a writer and he shares some lessons that he's learned along the way.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that part is entertaining, but I don't find it as helpful as the second part, where he he talks about more of the nuts and bolts of writing and storytelling, like how do you do it, you know, the importance of grammar and sentence structure and all kinds of things that you're actually going to use in your everyday writing.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a great book.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely recommend that you pick it up.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Book number two on my list is Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holliday.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: You might already be familiar with Ryan Holliday.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: He is the mastermind behind the Daily Stoic podcast, as well as several books related to Stoicism.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And those books include The Daily Stoic, Ego is the Enemy, The Obstacle is the Way, Stillness is the Key, and others.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Ryan also writes books about marketing and media, including the one that we're talking about here, which is Perennial Cellar.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: The whole idea of perennial seller is fascinating.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: It focuses on the question of how do we create work that lasts.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the book is divided into four parts the creative process, positioning, which is how to make your work shine, marketing, and platform.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what I appreciate most about this book is that it stresses the importance of putting in the work to create something that lasts.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there is a whole sub-industry related to writing that stresses that we should write books as fast as we can, and it basically ignores the tried and true process of actually creating something meaningful, of actually trying to create the best quality of work that we can.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So even though Ryan Holiday is a very, very successful marketer, he's a genius when it comes to all that stuff.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate his emphasis on doing the hard work that's required to create something worthwhile.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever you read any of his books or any of his stuff, you get a very clear sense of, hey, this is a guy who sat down and really put his heart and soul into it.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: He worked really hard to craft this in a way that is compelling.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: I always get that sense whenever I read his work, which is why I like it so much.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, if I had to choose an author who is my current nonfiction author, I think it would be Ryan Holliday.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: His writing is a great blend of research, storytelling, and just good old-fashioned common sense.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So pick up Perennial Seller if you're looking for a book that is going to give you an overview of the creative process as well as marketing work that lasts.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Number three on my list is You Must Write a Book, Boost Your Brand, Get More Business, and Become the Go-To Expert by Honore Corter.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Honore is a successful author who has mastered self-publishing, and she's also the co-author of the Miracle Morning series, which is which was created by Hal Elrod, and probably you've read at least one of the Miracle Morning books.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: They're really, really fantastic.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And not only that, Anore is just a lot of fun, and she is a fantastic interview guest.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: She's been on this show before.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, in fact, I would encourage you to go back and listen to her appearance on this podcast from March of 2020.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So check that out.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: She talks about this book, in fact.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to dive into more topics and themes related to You Must Write a Book, make sure and check out that episode.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I have recommended You Must Write a Book to a lot of people.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because Honore lays out a very clear and detailed process that you can use to write and market your book in a reasonable amount of time.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a great companion to perennial seller.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas Ryan Holiday in that book gives you more of a philosophical view of creating and writing and marketing.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Honore's book helps you actually get it done because she gives you a very clear, very doable step-by-step system for how to get it done.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what's even cooler is that she has a companion guide called I Must Write My Book.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I love that title.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that companion guide helps you implement what you'll learn and you must write a book.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in addition, she has an excellent course called Publishing PhD, where you can go much further into all these concepts.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I can vouch for how excellent this course is because I've been through it several times.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the cool thing is that when Honore does a live course like this, she lets you retake it as many times as you want.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I really cannot recommend her high enough.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I really cannot recommend uh these books and her publishing PhD course highly enough because they've been immensely helpful to me.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say if you don't get any other book on this list, pick up You Must Write a Book.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to give you the nuts and bolts of how to actually get your book written, published, launched, and marketed.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Number four on my list is Save the Cat Writes a Novel, the last book on novel writing you'll ever need by Jessica Brody.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: About 15 years ago, a great book called Save the Cat was published, and it was written by a screenwriter named Blake Snyder.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And this book was designed to give you a template for writing great stories.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the term Save the Cat refers to the act that the hero of the story must do in order for us to like him, such as Saving a Cat.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people have used the Save the Cat template to write screenplays, but novelists have wondered how to adapt it for novels and stories that they're writing.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: So a couple of years ago, Jessica Brody, who is a successful novelist in her own right, she did us all a massive favor and she gave us the blueprint for using the Save the Cat template for novels, which has resulted in Save the Cat writes a novel.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this book is very, very fun to read.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Jessica goes through each of the 10 story genres and uses different novels to show how the Save the Cat template works within each of those genres.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And she also does a very detailed breakdown of Save the Cat in the first part of the book, which is, I would say, in the first 70 or 80 pages of the book, she goes through and kind of does a breakdown of what the Save the Cat method is all about.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that section alone, those 70 or 80 pages, is worth the whole price of the book by itself.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: I am a huge proponent of cross-pollinating ideas and learning from different disciplines.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So even if you write nonfiction, you really need to learn how to tell better stories.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And at the very least, it's helpful to know how novels and screenplays are constructed so you can have a deeper appreciation of what you read and watch.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, the upside is that you can also annoy your family and friends by analyzing every TV show and movie that you watch.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not that I've ever done that, of course.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's a quick side note.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been listening to the Daily Writer podcast for any length of time, you might remember my interview with Jessica Brody from just a couple of weeks ago.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a super fun conversation, so I encourage you to go check that out.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, number five on my list of five books that you must read this year is one of my personal favorites, and that is Do the Work by Stephen Pressfield.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of people listening, when you hear the name Stephen Pressfield, would you might automatically assume that I would include his book, The War of Art, on a list like this.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And make no mistake, The War of Art is indeed a fantastic book.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: However, the reason I didn't include it, there's really a couple reasons.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is that at this point, so many people have read it that it's kind of like the obvious choice.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so if you've read The War of Art, the first time you read it, it's great.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the the eighth or ninth time that you read it, you've kind of been there done that.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not to take away the power of the book, but but honestly, at this point, so many people have read it that I didn't want to make that an obvious choice on this list.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the other reason is that I actually like do the work better.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: It just seems to be more action-oriented.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: To me, the to me, the War of Art book, um, it's more sort of inspirational and philosophical, which is very, very important.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's an important foundation for what we do as writers and as artists and creatives.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: However, I tend to gravitate these days more toward do the work because it emphasizes the most important thing that we can do as writers, which is simply just doing the work.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if the war of art is sort of a field manual for writers, I think do the work is the blueprint for actually getting the work done.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this goes back to what I said at the very beginning of this of this episode, which is a lot of people read a lot of stuff, but they don't actually take action on what they read.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason I love do the work is because it emphasizes the single most important thing that we can do as writers, which is just, I don't know how else to say it, but setting your behind in the chair and cranking out the words and just actually getting it done.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And one problem that I have seen within myself over the years, and I've I've seen with and I've seen within other writers, is that we like to talk about books, we like to read books, we like to discuss books, but sometimes we don't want to do the hardest thing, which is sitting our behind in the chair and just actually writing the content, whether that's books or blog posts or podcasts or whatever it is.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: So doing the work is where the rubber meets the road, and that's why I love this book so much.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a couple of quotes that I really love.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur's indispensable allies.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be, and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: What a great quote.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Here's another one that I really love from Stephen Pressfield's Do the Work.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Don't think.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Act.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: We can always revise and revisit once we've acted, but we can accomplish nothing until we act.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: And folks, that really sums it up right there.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: We can accomplish nothing until we act.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's really all about doing the work and just getting the work done.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a very short book that you can read in about an hour, but I would advise you not to just dive in and read the whole thing at once.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can do that, but you know, go through it once quickly if you want to, but then take the book around with you for a week or two.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Read a few pages, digest it, and then take action on what you read.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this is a book to be read quickly and then put back on the shelf.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is a book to really be digested in small chunks so you can take action on what you're reading and learning.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there you have it, my friends.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: These are five books that every writer should read this year.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: My advice would be to get all of them and read one book per month.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: But if you only pick one, I would advise that you get You Must Write a Book by Honor Recorder because it gives you a clear step-by-step blueprint of getting your book written, published, and marketed to readers.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And one more time, I want to mention our daily writer community.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to read books alone, but when you're doing it with a group, it's so much more powerful.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Along with all the other cool things that we're doing in DW, we do a book discussion every month and we focus on application, not just discussing ideas.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to run towards success instead of just walking, DW is definitely for you.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can find out more info and apply by going to daily riderlife.comslash community.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, that is it for this episode.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you tomorrow.