Estelle Erasmus Gives Great Advice in 'Writing That Gets Noticed'

Award-winning journalist, writing coach, and speaker, Estelle Erasmus, sits down with us to discuss her informational guide for writers,Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published. Her book includes a myriad of topics including how to write, what format to write in, finding your voice, designing a great pitch, tips to getting your writing published, and much more. Regarding the structure of her book, Erasmus said, “…I knew that I wanted it to be very useful. I wanted it to have a flow and I wanted to include everything that had been helpful to me, from idea generation and incubating ideas and where to find them, to how to develop your voice. A lot of people aren’t sure how to do that to how to write essays and what kind of formats you should use for writing essays… I set up the premise of what makes an essay work and how you can do it… and then I talked about pitches… I said exactly my formula of what makes a pitch work, what will make a pitch land, and then there are so many people who are really in the dark when it comes to what happens when you get a contract. How do you handle that, that I knew that after I shared info on service and essays and pitching, I would have to cover, ‘You’ve got the contract. Here’s what to do,’ and I wanted to be very specific, like, ‘What if this goes wrong? Here’s how you have to handle it….’ A big part of my mission is for writers to feel valued, to feel their work is valued…”

While Erasmus’ book is tailored for both aspiring and seasoned writers, the book can be beneficial for any audience. Since writing is an essential skill for daily life, this book is a handy tool even for those whose writing consists of day-to-day emails, messages, texts, or social media posts. Erasmus explained, “My book is geared for anybody who wants to write, who wants to write for publications, who wants to learn more about the craft, working with editors… and I feel that it’s translatable. It’s also tips and tricks for people who have been writing awhile and want to get their platform a bit more elevated, and that’s how you can do that… Writing, it’s so interesting. If you know how to write persuasively and you know how to write to make an impact and get attention and get noticed, you can get your insurance claim taken care of. You can write a good email in business, you can do things in your life that can make a difference, and so knowing how to do this, I feel, is a very translatable skill.”