Books for the Beginning Writer

photo by: flyzipper

I promised a list filled with books that have helped me get a jump start into the field of freelance writing. This is a short list but I will expand as I get more books in my arsenal.

• Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer by Moira Anderson Allen. This book is one of my favorites. It’s fun to read, informative, and less textbooky in comparison to other how-to books. Great book to have on hand as you’re querying or writing your first draft.

Writer’s Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing edited by Michelle Ruberg. Chock full of expert information not only pertinent to beginning writers. While it’s less entertaining than others, it’s filled with really great information like things to do reduce risks when working with start-ups that I wish I had when I first started.

• The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner. Another one of my favorites. It’s less how-to and more how it is to be a writer. I pick this up when self-doubt creeps in and am instantly gratified by sayings like this, “…the degree of one’s perseverance is the best predictor of success. It is some combination of ability and ego, desire and discipline, that produces good work.”