By Moira K. Wiley

Keywords: aspects of writing, writer, book, freelance writer

One important thing to do when beginning your writing career is to borrow or purchase books that deal with the craft of writing. Starting your own collection is usually better than borrowing because you always have the book available to use. You can purchase books about writing at most larger bookstores or join a club, like the Writer's Digest Book Club.

Every freelance writer, including those who have been in the business for a while, eventually has a question concerning some aspect of writing, publishing, editing, promoting or other concepts within their chosen profession. You'll be surprised at the answers you'll find simply by referencing a book specifically geared towards the freelance writer.

One book I refer to on numerous occasions is Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, by Jack and Glenda Neff, Don Prues, and the Editors of Writer's Market. As a new freelance writer, I had no idea how to format certain types of submissions to have the best possible chance for publication. I had already heard the horror stories of good writers whose manuscripts were returned unread simply because they didn't format them properly. Not every publication is this particular, but it's better to be safe than unpublished.

Another good selection of a helpful book is one that covers specific aspects of writing within a given genre. For example, Writer's Digest has a series of books for the mystery writer called "How Dunit." Within this series, you'll find books on poisons, police procedures and crime-scene investigations. You can also find general books to help with anything fiction, such as naming your characters or giving your characters occupations.

At the very least, writers should own a current copy of Writer's Market, which contains listings of publications in various genres. These listings include contact information, submission guidelines, their openness to new and/or unpublished writers, pay scales and sometimes what they're currently seeking. These market books are also available in specific fields, such as poetry, novel and short stories, photography, writing and illustrating for children and songwriting. Likewise, they often include articles on various aspects of writing written by experienced writers who used to be a novice, just like you.

Moira K. Wiley has been a freelance writer and editor since 1999. She has 400-plus published articles to her credit appearing in various magazines, trade journals, newspapers and online publications. Mostly writing nonfiction, she also enjoys writing poetry and short stories and had both included in the cozy crime anthology, Almostly Murder.with pets published by Padlock Mystery Press. She's a former president of Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc. and currently resides in Stillwater with her big, lovable pit bull, Achilles.

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