My favourite writing resources for 2025

Inspiration for your writing practise

Hello, I’m Molly, a full time creator based in the Scottish Highlands. Subscribers can enjoy weekly posts around the themes of slow living, thriving in a creative career, books & nature. Members get access to ALL my content, including video tea times, quiet letters and seasonal book reviews.

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I started my own writing practise in spring 2020. What began as a few scribbles during those quiet lock down months has grown into what is now my full time job.

Over the years, I’ve tried lots of different tools and resources to hone my writing skills and, just as importantly, keep me motivated (which was far harder at the beginning when it felt like I was writing into a void).

As we are into a new year, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite resources, that you can use no matter where you are in your writing journey. I use these tools at different stages of my writing process, from coming up with an initial idea right through to a finished post.

Here are my favourite writing resources for 2025.

For inspiration

Skillshare

I had to start here as Skillshare has by far been my most used resource when it comes to improving my writing skills. What I love most about this platform is that I can learn a variety of different types of writing, from memoirs to fictional stories, all taught by actual writers.

Here are a few of my absolute favourite classes -

• Creative writing: crafting personal essays with impact (by

  Roxane Gay
  )

• Crafting memoir: how to outline your hero’s journey

• Success on Substack: craft a subscription newsletter worth reading

• The writer’s toolkit 2: Find your voice and avoid mistakes that ruin a first book

• Creative writing bootcamp: start a brand new story

If you are new to this platform then you can use this link to access a 30 day free trial.

(P.S., I do sometimes work with Skillshare over on my YouTube, but this mention isn’t part of a paid collaboration, I just genuinely love this platform!)

YouTube

I like to watch YouTube if I’m after a quick fix solution or, more commonly, to enjoy writing lifestyle vlogs that I find really motivating! Some channels I’m currently enjoying include Christy Anne Jones (especially her famous author’s routines playlist), Lynn D. Jung and Dakota Warren.

Books

I’d love to read more books on writing (so please do drop any recommendations in the comments!), but these are a few titles that I’ve really enjoyed -

• Reading like a writer (Francine Prose)

• On writing well (William Zinsser)

• Bird by bird (Anne Lammott)

• The way of the fearless writer

  Beth Kempton

Classes

I have completed two writing classes online, including Creative writing: an introduction to non-fiction nature writing (University of Cambridge) and, the more affordable (and really just as good) Writing nature memoir (Field Studies Council).

These were more of an investment and definitely not necessary, but I learnt a lot from them and found it inspiring to connect with other writers.

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For planning

Notion

This won’t be a shock for regular readers (as I cannot rave enough about this platform) and I use Notion to plan all my writing (and my life in general). This is a fantastic space that is completely free to use and its where I create my content calendar, plan out all my Substack posts and review my analytical data (amongst other things).

The only downside to this platform is it does take a while to get to grips with it, so, if you would like a helping hand, I do sell a writer planner template on my Etsy store (view HERE), which can help you get started with Notion and customise it to suit your needs.

Milanote

This is another free online platform that I only found recently and have been using it as a way to visualise my content, similar to a mind map, that’s especially useful for larger projects. You can also integrate links for Milanote boards into Notion, which is very handy!

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For writing

Journals/notebooks

Although I do tend to do a lot of my ‘work writing’ digitally (either straight into Substack or in Notion/Microsoft Word), I do still like to do some more creative writing by hand.

I’ve previously shared an insight into my various writer notebooks, so you can read more about them (and get the relevant links) HERE.

Writing prompts

I recently purchased this book that is full of writing prompts, one for each day of the year, and I’ve found that this is a useful tool to have to hand if I want to try out some short creative writing pieces.

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Remember, your writing practise is your own, so don’t feel you need to use all or any of these resources, this is just what works for me right now.

Until next week,

Molly xx

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More writing inspiration…

How to fall in love with writing

An exclusive insight into my nature diary

How to build a writing habit that sticks