It’s not easy to become a writer. It is fiendishly difficult to stay a writer. To string words together, day in day out, that would be meaningful. To be inspired to do so every day. To not get lost in the deluge of “inspiration” posts that are anything but. Each week, I dig through the endless archives of the Internet to find those few fascinating posts, which I deliver as issues of this newsletter to assist a writer to stay inspired.

This is what I had written while introducing the newsletter as part of the first issue.

There are times when we [the creative people] get stuck and look for inspiration. There are times when we wish that finding help was simpler. With this newsletter, I intend to lend exactly that to the writers, a helping hand of sorts.

With every update, I will publish a curated list of the articles and tools that I believe every writer would find interesting and helpful. I will also feature one writer that inspires me to write more, along with some of their writing.

I have struggled many a time for inspiration, for guidance. I often wished if only there was a hidden dole of helpful articles and directions that will keep me interested, motivated to trudge along. Slanting Nib & A Keyboard (referred interchangeably as Slanting Nib) will attempt to be that nudge for me first. My wish is it manages to do the same for the writer in you, manages to inspire the words in you.

Slanting Nib will be delivered every Wednesday at 5 PM UTC. Featuring a mix of a few thoughtfully curated posts, an author and a tool, it aims to be interesting enough to be worthy of your time without becoming too long to be a burden, a drag.

What can I expect in each issue?

Each issue would generally follow some theme. The first issue focused on the history of writing, for example; the second one presented a few inspiring words from masters. As long as I can, I intend to maintain a common thread that connects all the posts included in an issue. It will feature three specific sections, featured writing, featured writer and featured tool.

Featured writing will have a maximum of 3 articles and a short, inspiring video. All the articles will be meaningful. I will make it a point that neither is a listicle of any form. Or one from the myriad of productivity hacks.

The featured writer showcases an author who I have enjoyed reading from. He or she would not be the famous lots who get profiled on the NY Times; those people already get featured enough and pretty prominently. The featured tool would be something that I use and find a lot useful. I, ideally, want to feature free ones; but even if I feature a paid one, it would justify the cost.

An inspirational post from social media, like Twitter or Instagram, followed by signing off message from me should wind the newsletter up.

What if I have feedback?

I would love to hear from you. If you come across something that you thing would be the right fit for an issue, do send the recommendations to me. If you find something incorrect or some part that doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to let me know. If you like something I have included in the newsletter issue or it helped you in some way, I would love to hear about that too.

Just hit reply to the issue or send me an email with any recommendations or tips, writer or tools. I am a completionist, I will acknowledge every email.