Welcome to the Writer’s Life: How to Design Your Writing Craft

Writers looking for encouragement, specifics, and some memorable advice would do well to pick up this good-humored and highly useful guide from Perhach, a contributor to Elle and Cosmopolitan. While sharing professional successes and challenges, Perhach starts with the basics: finding enough time to write, setting goals, and overcoming insecurities. Along with advice on these matters, Perhach offers nuggets of inspiration (“How hard you work outweighs how much talent you have”) as well as inspirational maxims from other writers, including Stephen King and E.L. Doctorow. Try writing in different genres, Perhach encourages, while also “taking risks” and “reading the best of the best.” And for readers who have never seriously studied writing as a craft, Perhach gives an introduction to the mechanics of storytelling, and lists 12 books to use as follow-up. Lighthearted graphics illustrate points throughout the book, as do simple assignments. Perhach wraps up by examining writing as a business, discussing lifestyle choices, professional role models, and “how to network non-creepily.” This funny, readable, and idea-crammed book is a powerful tool for writers, no matter where they are in their journeys. [em](Aug.) [/em]