Model of Jerusalem at the time of the 2nd Temple now situated at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

BOOKS TO BOOST YOUR FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

I'm often asked to recommend books which have helped me in my freelance writing  learning curve.
Below is a list of my favorites.
I have many more books,  but these I think have given me the most information / inspiration / encouragement.
As you can see from the selection I'm not (yet?) a fiction writer.

ON WRITING WELL  - William Zinsser A  classic that is as relevant today as it was when it was first published over 30 years ago. A pleasure to read, flows easily and is full of  hands-on writing advice for all creative writing and reporting.  'The best book on the Journalism 101 course' is how a journalism student described it to me.
Here is an excerpt

WRITING ABOUT  YOUR LIFEWillaim Zinsser  He brings the same easy readability coupled with writing insights  to writing  memoirs.
Although I don’t write what are officially called ‘memoirs’, I write a lot of essays and what are essays if not short memoirs?

COURAGE AND CRAFT - Barbara Abercrombie   Essay writing

READY AIM SPECIALIZE  - Kelly James Enger  subtitled ‘create your own writing specialty and make more money’  she shows you how to choose your niche and develop it  and also  describes the ten most popular specialties and how to break into them.

ON WRITING -  Stephen King  An autobiography telling how King started writing and all his slip ups and failures on the way, interweaving tips and strategies for writers.

THE RENEGADE WRITERLinda Formichelli and Diana Burrell  An unconventional guide to breaking the standard freelancing rules. You have to know what the rules are in order to break them but this book will guide you all the way. From never sending query letters /  calling your editor on the telephone etc

GETTING THE WORDS RIGHT Theodore A. Rees Cheney  an excellent book on editing and rewriting

6 comments:

  1. You have made ​​a good post with good information, I found many things in this post.

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  2. Thank you! I just ordered the first one. I can't wait to receive it.

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  3. Konferens - I'm glad you found the post helpful.

    Creative Mommy - I'm sure you won't regret buying the book. It's excellent.

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  4. (Ann, I think the first commenter was spam.) I like Bill Roorbach's "Writing Life Stories." It has exercises that will help anyone, no matter your genre.

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  5. I like Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way". There are a lot of exercises to help you become more creative in any kind of art. Not just writing.

    I also enjoyed Ann Lamott's "Bird by Bird" which is very funny.
    Just last week I ordered "On writing" by Stephan King, funny coincidence! I am glad to see it on your list too.

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  6. Thanks for all your ideas - I see I have some more to oder for myself now.

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