There are just too many great images of book marks out there on Pinterest Boards. I could not even narrow down one to use here. Seriously, it was several minutes of entertaining viewing. Google “bookmarks” and go to images. Some really fun stuff.

Over the years I have gathered a significant amount of online and print resources to refer to in order to maintain important tips of the craft-trade. For print resources I keep a very small number of things around. These books have a few little flag book marks in them where I might need to reference things.  

Diana Hacker’s A Canadian Writer’s Reference. This is a book I picked up during my first college stint. There are a few great hints in here that I still need to refer to monthly. Sometimes several times a month. Multiple newer versions of this book have been released since. I’ll keep this one probably for quite some time. Or until I can finally memorize the hints in it….

The Gregg Reference Manual. This one I acquired as part of my textbook list during my second stint in college. Despite owning this one for quite a long time, I have no bookmarks in it yet. It has some valuable info where I feel like every page is offering something new to learn. The more I look at it, the more instant improvement that I know will come to my work.

The Elements of Style. Strunk and White (White being E.B. White, the genius behind Charlotte’s Web) should be required reading of any writer. I’m still working through it. There are points in this book that made me regret so many emails, stories and pitch letters that I wrote. You cannot change the past. Still, it would be nice to recall some of those things and edit them further. My obsessiveness with editing is another story….

Consider adding the following two books to your personal library. 

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying. Carol Leifer’s book is a wonderfully quick read, with things that you will want to read again. My book marks in Carol’s book contain my own markings. In writing this post I turned to a random book mark which says “Doing What You Love”. This instantly made my day because this is what I love doing. 

Real Artists Have Day Jobs (And Other Awesome Things They Don’t Teach You In School) Sara Benincasa’s book was my favourite of 2016 by a hundred million miles. It was a wonderfully timed wake-up call. A joyous collection of pieces that will give you a collection of reasons to feel better about yourself. To feel better about being creative while slugging through the necessity of having a day job in the process.

All of these books mentioned are available at Amazon and anywhere online most books are sold. 

@WriterDann