Resource of the Week #79: An Article on Writing Books

Hello again. This week, our featured resource is an article titled “So You Want to Write a Book?” The article appears this month in the magazine The Scientist.

The article discusses deciding whether to write a book, starting to write, helping ensure that the book is well written, and publishing the book. Although some points in the article might not apply in some countries, many of the ideas are widely applicable.

Among these ideas are the following:

• Start small, for example by writing newspaper articles or book chapters.
• Read books of the type you hope to write, and use them as models.
• Perhaps join a “writing club”, in which members motivate one another and offer feedback.
• Make good use of guidance from editors.
• Maybe have a professional writer work with you.

By the way, I consider this article an example of good writing for a professionally oriented magazine. The author includes advice from many people with relevant experience. Also, the style and format help make the article readable.

This article is in the Careers series in The Scientist. Some other articles in this series also might interest AuthorAID members. Perhaps take a look!

Until the next post—

Barbara