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Five long dead writers every blogger should read

Clayton J. Hester
4 min readDec 27, 2021

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

It’s easy to feel as though you have nothing original to offer.

We’ve all been there. What do I have to say on a subject that no one else has? Have I got something people want to read?

It’s time to break out of that thinking.

Some of the greatest shortform writers in history have simply allowed their reflections to lead them to insight.

This is a skill I think that we can also learn, and I suspect it will bolster bloggers to have a newfound appreciation for their own ability to find valuable ideas in their reflections.

Michel de Montaigne

You should read Michel de Montaigne.

Don’t limit yourself to reading just his famous essays, but all of them.

He’s particularly keen to get you to follow your natural inclinations, not society’s pre-established sensibilities.

This persuasion certain is one that we children of the 21st century are well aware of.

But it’s a valuable insight into the writers’ birthright to think against the grain of the time.

Montaigne died in 1592, aged 59, after suffering from kidney stones.

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Clayton J. Hester
Clayton J. Hester

Written by Clayton J. Hester

Country boy. Explorer of the creative process & life, the arts, storytelling, innovation and history of ideas. Omnia in gloriam Dei facite — claytonjhester.com

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