• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Farnam Street Logo

Farnam Street

Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out

  • Newsletter
  • Books
  • Podcast
  • Articles
  • Log In
  • Become a Member

Writing

The Surprising Reason Writing Remains Essential in an AI-Driven World

Why write an essay when you can type a few words and have AI generate one for you? Why write an email when AI can auto-respond for you with all the typical pleasantries and talking-points? While AI doing these things for you is likely to …

Read moreThe Surprising Reason Writing Remains Essential in an AI-Driven World

How to Write Creative Fiction: Umberto Eco’s Four Rules

Umberto Eco (1932–2016) was one of the bestselling authors of all time. In Confessions of a Young Novelist, he shares some unique advice for writing fiction. Umberto Eco wrote Confessions of a Young Novelist in his late seventies. But …

Read moreHow to Write Creative Fiction: Umberto Eco’s Four Rules

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Doers and thinkers from Shakespeare to Jobs, liberally “stole” inspiration from the doers and thinkers who came before. Here’s how to do it right. *** “If I have seen further,” Isaac Newton wrote in a …

Read moreStanding on the Shoulders of Giants

Why Great Writers Write

“Books are never finished.They are merely abandoned.” — Oscar Wilde *** Why do great writers write? The question will never be answered only explored — in the context of culture, time, and ourselves. This is exactly …

Read moreWhy Great Writers Write

Unlock the Power of Effective Writing: Insights from Steven Pinker

When we know a lot about a topic, it can be difficult to write about it in a way that makes sense to the layperson. To improve writing, Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker suggests several strategies: Let’s dive in. Pinker is known …

Read moreUnlock the Power of Effective Writing: Insights from Steven Pinker

David Foster Wallace: The Future of Writing In the Age of Information

David Foster Wallace remains both loved and hated. His wisdom shows itself in argumentative writing, ambition, and perfectionism, and perhaps one of the best, most profound, commencement addresses ever. He’s revered, in part, because …

Read moreDavid Foster Wallace: The Future of Writing In the Age of Information

David Foster Wallace on Argumentative Writing and Nonfiction

In December 2004, Bryan A. Garner, who had already struck up a friendship with David Foster Wallace, started interviewing state and federal judges as well as a few key writers. With over a hundred interviews under his belt by January 2006, …

Read moreDavid Foster Wallace on Argumentative Writing and Nonfiction

Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom

In response to Ernest Hemingway on Writing a reader passed along a pointer to Advice to Writers, “a compendium of quotes, anecdotes, and writerly wisdom from a dazzling array of literary lights.” Jon Winokur, author of the bestselling The …

Read moreAdvice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom

Ernest Hemingway on Writing

Ernest Hemingway is widely regarded as one of the great writers. His 1954 Nobel acceptance speech on working alone, is one of the keys to his genius. Being alone gives you the space and freedom for “combinatory play.” To continue my look at …

Read moreErnest Hemingway on Writing

the WAR of ART and the Unlived Life

A voracious reader and best-selling author emailed me shortly after my post Anne Lamott: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. He proceeded to tell me the book was full of terrible advice, the self-help equivalent of “follow your …

Read morethe WAR of ART and the Unlived Life

David Foster Wallace: Five Common Word Usage Mistakes

I’m a big David Foster Wallace fan. His 2005 commencement speech will go down as one of the best ever. If you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently … You get to decide what has meaning and …

Read moreDavid Foster Wallace: Five Common Word Usage Mistakes

Bird By Bird: Anne Lamott offers Some Instructions on Writing and Life

I stumbled across Anne Lamott’s beautiful Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Lamott’s advice is down to earth, real, and void of any pretentiousness. In fact, it’s one of the best books I’ve ever …

Read moreBird By Bird: Anne Lamott offers Some Instructions on Writing and Life

The Structure of a Story

“Human beings master the basics of storytelling as young children and retain this capability throughout their lives.” — Stephen Denning When psychologist T. A. Harley researched the academic literature on the structure of stories, he …

Read moreThe Structure of a Story

Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules Of Writing

Elmore Leonard, crime-fiction writer, died on August 20th at the age of 87. In July 2001, Leonard wrote a short piece for The New York Times on his ten rules for writing that was eventually adapted into a book: Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of …

Read moreElmore Leonard: 10 Rules Of Writing

Ernest Hemingway: Three Tips on How to Write Fiction

Be careful if you ask Ernest Hemingway for his opinion. F. Scott Fitzgerald once asked Hemingway for an honest opinion on his book. Hemingway responded “You see well enough. But you stop listening.” While Hemingway never wrote a book on the …

Read moreErnest Hemingway: Three Tips on How to Write Fiction

David Ogilvy 10 Tips on Writing

In 1982, the original “Mad Man” David Ogilvy, sent the following internal memo to all employees of his advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, titled “How to Write.” Via The Unpublished David Ogilvy: A Selection of His Writings …

Read moreDavid Ogilvy 10 Tips on Writing

Philip Roth — One Skill That Every Writer Needs

In his book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Mason Currey explores Philip Roth. Roth is full of insight. His comments on writing, taken from Reporting: Writings from The New Yorker, stuck with me. “Writing isn’t hard work, …

Read morePhilip Roth — One Skill That Every Writer Needs

Susan Sontag — How I Write

Mason Currey’s recently published Daily Rituals: How Artists Work mentioned the routines, quirks, and rituals of plenty of creative minds—novelists, painters, poets, philosophers, filmmakers, and scientists—but he missed one of my …

Read moreSusan Sontag — How I Write

Hemingway’s Routine

In his book, Daily Rituals, Mason Currey dug into Hemmingway’s 1958 Paris Review interview: When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is …

Read moreHemingway’s Routine

Metaphors

For most people a metaphor is a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. “For this reason,” write Mark Johnson and George Lakoff in their book Metaphors We Live By, “most people think they can get along perfectly well without …

Read moreMetaphors

Kurt Vonnegut: How To Write With Style

Kurt Vonnegut on writing with style. Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you’re writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your …

Read moreKurt Vonnegut: How To Write With Style

The Best Book On The Art Of Writing

Last year, literary critic Joseph Epstein wrote The best book on the art of writing that I know is F. L. Lucas’ Style: The Art of Writing Well. At the time of Epstein’s comments, the book was long out of print and selling for a …

Read moreThe Best Book On The Art Of Writing

Discover What You’re Missing

Get the weekly email full of actionable ideas and insights you can use at work and home.


As seen on:

New York Times logo
Wall Street Journal logo
The Economist logo
Financial Times logo
Farnam Street Logo

© 2025 Farnam Street Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Proudly powered by WordPress. Hosted by Pressable. See our Privacy Policy.

  • About
  • Sponsorship
  • Speaking
  • Support

We’re Syrus Partners.
We buy amazing businesses.


Farnam Street participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commissions by linking to Amazon.