Toby Welch

   


 I just read an awesome book - How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors. With contributions from sixty writers that chronicle how they write and what inspires them, this book makes you think about your own writing life. This book is just one of my many favorites. I also highly recommend:

The Write Track: How to Succeed as a Freelance Writer in Canada by Betty Jane Wylie - Geared for us Canucks, this book covers the writing lifestyle basics. Wylie starts by showing us what is needed to succeed as a freelance writer, mainly things within ourselves. She continues with fundamentals such as generating ideas, research, interviews, how to market, copyrights, plagiarism, and dealing with others in the industry.

The Canadian Writer’s Market by Sandra B. Tooze – This is an essential book for anyone who plans to submit work to consumer magazines, literary and scholarly publications, trade magazines, newspapers, book publishers, or literary agents. It summarizes each of the markets to help you decide where to submit your work. The book also covers writing competitions, writers’ organizations, writer support programs, and other resources. Make sure you pick up the latest version; as of today, the 17th edition.

Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal: How to Have a Great Life as a Freelance Writer by John Clausen – With Clausen as your personal cheerleader, you have no option but to succeed at this crazy calling - writing. Inspiration and direction are abundant in this must-read.

A Writer’s Coach: An Editor’s Guide to Words That Work by Jack Hart. This book reads like a textbook but is so crammed with useful information it’s hard to put down. This book made me scrutinize my writing and I will never use a dangling prepositional phrase again. Knock on wood.

You'll find hundreds of book on writing out there. Hopefuly you'll find a couple that inspire you to be an even better writer. Happy reading!!