The following are resources I recommend for writers.

Full disclosure: I am an affiliate for some of these resources, and every purchase made via this page helps support Write It Sideways in a practical way. I only recommend resources to writers that I have either used myself or can vouch for through trusted contacts.

Story Is a State of Mind (aka “The Story Course”)

Story is a State of Mind (aka “The Story Course”) is the creative writing course that gets my personal gold-star recommendation. The program has made a dramatic difference to my writing. Since first working my way through SSM, I’ve founded a successful literary journal, published more short stories, and received several writing grants from the Ontario Arts Council. As of 2017, I am also a writing instructor for the live version of this course (“The Story Intensive”) that runs each fall!

SSM is entirely online, so you can access it from anywhere. There are no deadlines, so it’s absolutely flexible. You get lifetime access to the course materials, and trust me—you’ll want to revisit them again and again. The course’s creator is Sarah Selecky, author of This Cake Is for the Party. Margaret Atwood calls Story Is a State of Mind, “Smart, encouraging, practical.” Yes, you read that right. Margaret Atwood.

Read my full review of Story Is a State of Mind here for all the details, as well as to learn about how you can get a free critique of 2500 words of your writing when you purchase the course through my site.

Useful Writing Courses

Carol Tice and Linda Formichelli are two amazing freelancers who’ve made names for themselves with their extensive writing portfolios and seriously helpful writing courses. I love how down-to-earth these women are, how they’re willing to share their past screw-ups in the hopes that aspiring freelancers will put themselves out there without fear. They condense years of their experience into manageable courses that will either help you either break into freelancing or take your career to the next level. Many of their courses have support options that include personalized feedback from Tice and Formichelli, themselves, which is a huge advantage.

In the past I’ve purchased two courses created by Tice and/or Formichelli, and I credit them with giving me the skills and confidence I needed to query a national magazine. Within hours, I’d landed the assignment—and got paid very well for it.

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing is a productivity guide for women who want to combine their passions for motherhood and writing in ways that make their lives more fulfilling. I wrote the guide in 2012 when I had two sons and was pregnant with fraternal twins. Life has only gotten more hectic since then, yet I’ve managed to not only stay afloat but continue to grow my writing and editing portfolio.

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing is a 300+ page resource for writing moms, which includes

• over 150 time-savers, tips and tricks for writer-moms
• 27 printable worksheets and charts
• a printable recipe booklet with more than 30 quick and versatile meal ideas
• 8 exclusive interviews with traditionally published novelists who are also busy moms, including Julie Buxbaum (The Opposite of Love); Camille Noe Pagan (The Art of Forgetting); and Therese Walsh (The Last Will of Moira Leahy), and a special statement from mega-bestseller Jodi Picoult (Sing You Home, House Rules)

The eBook teaches you how to

• streamline your day so you spend less time on housework and more time writing
• avoid sacrificing quality time with your children and partner
• get your family to support your writing passion
• set achievable short-term and long-term writing goals
• use time-tracking to design a writing schedule that works for you
• find the mental space and energy to write when you’re exhausted
• keep your kids engaged and having fun without television or video games
• get your kids to help out around the house
• and prepare healthy and delicious meals in half the time

Whether you want to pen a novel, a collection of short stories, a memoir, or something else, this book will also help you

• generate writing ideas with creative writing prompts and other strategies
• work through the all-important first draft and subsequent revisions
• build your writing portfolio from the ground up
• start, or improve, a blog to promote your writing
• and pitch guest posts like a professional

Praise for The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing is the kind of book I wish I’d found (or someone had gifted me with) ten years ago. Since that was before ebooks became popular, my copy would have been dog-eared and worn, but quite beloved by now. This book will help [moms] find a way to marry two of their most pressing priorities in a way that enables them to retain their sanity while meeting their family responsibilities and finding personal fulfillment. No, we can’t do it all, but we can be writing moms!” ~Patricia Woodside

The Tips & Tricks section of The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing is a gold mine, as are the streamlining suggestions for running house and cooking—especially for someone like me who is domestically challenged. There’s plenty of good info about time management, prioritization and efficiency that make this book a worthwhile resource for all. Whether they’re thinking they might like to write a little something someday, or they’re already in it up to their eyeballs and want to take things to the next level, The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing will orient and encourage writer moms to make writing as much a part of their life as they want.” ~Krissy Cabeen

Suzannah offers an amazing number of concrete tips and solutions in practical areas ranging from writing tips to how to free up time for writing by getting your kids to help around the house, from how to come up with ideas for a novel to how to set up a blog. Whether you’re just getting started as a mom-writer or trying to improve your practice, this book will help you make and implement a plan.” Tracy Hahn-Burkett

This eBook covers everything. Just when I thought, “Ah! But what about…” it was covered. I particularly love the way it’s realistic about the impediments we face—external ones and those we generate ourselves. The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing takes away the either/or element of a mother following a dream, and replaces it with a template for being the best parent one can be, and the best writer one can be. ~Michelle McCartney

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Writing is an amazing book. And not only for moms. Suzannah has a wonderful way of presenting the information to help with time management. This book is great for anyone interested in starting a writing career, or even just writing for themselves. The worksheets are a splendid place to start to make sure that you know why you are writing and where you want to go.” ~Karen Hayes-Mitchell

Recommended Books on Writing

I once asked my readers what their favourite books were on the craft of writing, and the following list grew out of that post. I continue to add to it as necessary.

• On Writing, by Stephen King
• Stein On Writing, by Sol Stein
• Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
• Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg
• Elements of Fiction Writing—Scene and Structure, by Jack Bickham
• On Writing Horror, by Horror Writers’ Association
• The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman
• Zen and the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury
• The Situation and the Story, by Vivian Gornick
• Writing FAST, by Jeff Bollow
• Reading Like a Writer, Francine Prose
• Elements of Fiction Writing—Characters and Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card
• Writing Well, by Donald Hall
• The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
• The Fire in Fiction, by Donald Maass
• On Writing, by Ernest Hemingway
• How to Write a Novel, by John Braine
• How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Orson Scott Card
• If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life, by Natalie Goldberg
• Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life, by Elizabeth George
• On Writing Well, by William Zinsser
• You Can Write a Novel, by James V. Smith
• Teach Yourself Writing a Novel, by Nigel Watts
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing for Young Adults, by Deborah Perlberg
• This is the Year You Write Your Novel, by Walter Mosely
• 10 Rules of Writing, by Elmore James
• The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield
• The Writing Experiment, by Hazel Smith
• Plot and Structure, by James Scott Bell
• How to Write Page-Turning Scenes, by Holly Lisle
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and David King
• Techniques of the Selling Writer, by Dwight Swain
• The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler
• How to Write a Selling Screenplay, by Christopher Keane
• The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
• Give ‘Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents, by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook
• Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande
• MFA in a Box, by John Rember
• Story Engineering, by Larry Brooks
• Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir, by Beth Kephardt
• The Memoir Project, by Marion Roach Smith
• Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer, by Bret Anthony Johnston
• A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration and Encouragement, by Barbara Abercrombie
• A Novel in a Year: From First Page to Last in 52 Weeks, by Louise Doughty
• Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence, by Lisa Cron