Content marketers write—or, at least, appreciate good writing.

With 37.5% of B2B companies looking for English or journalism majors when hiring content staff, most content marketers by day can probably name a favorite author or two they read by night.

As an English major, I draw inspiration for my business and creative writing from the authors I read in school. After all, we content professionals have made this our trade. The practical advice from the people we studied—on how to write and capture the attention of our readers—still holds true, novella or whitepaper, poem or tweet, novel or eBook.

Here are a few words of wisdom for you to enjoy, one content-creating English major to another.

“All bad writers are in love with the epic.” -Ernest Hemingway

For the content marketer: Be concise.

“Work on one thing at a time until finished.” -Henry Miller

For the content marketer: Stay focused.

“A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.” – Helen Dunmore

For the content marketer: Take brain breaks.

“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” -Stephen King

For the content marketer: Keep it clear.

“Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.” -Ann Patchett

For the content marketer: Enjoy your work.

“I don’t wait for moods. You can accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.” -Pearl S. Buck

For the content marketer: Get disciplined.

Just as content marketing is an art and a science, actually sitting down to write takes creativity and work. Keep these lessons in mind to create truly valuable content. Your blog post may not be the next Ulysses, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t give your readers something to think about.