With all the wonderful writing advice available online, you could be forgive for thinking that hardcopy writing books have become redundant. After all, why pay money for a book when you have so much advice available online, for free? I’ve just taken delivery of an order of three hardcopy books which set me back about $40. Not a fortune, for three books packed full of good advice, but still $40 more than I would have paid to get that advice online. So, why buy the books?
Not All Free Advice is Good Advice. The ease of sharing opinions and information online means that is just as easy for people to share bad advice as it is to share good advice. The problem is that it is isn’t always easy to figure out which is the best advice a available online. To be published in book form, the writer has presumably got some credentials to give such advice, for the publisher to take the risk in publishing them. On top of this, the editorial process in traditional publishing ensures that the author’s work is checked and verified, often by more than one editor.
The Advice or Exercises are at Your Fingertips. Once you have your hardcopy book, it is easy to dip into it time and time again. If you read a useful chapter, or try an exercise and then, three months down the track want to revisit it, it is there on your bookshelf. Often, material online disappears, or you can’t remember where you read it.
3. The Information Is Collected in One Place. I find lots of great advice and writing exercises online. But, I do find that I spend lots of time searching for it. A great article on one site, a wonderful writing exercise in another. When I find a great writing book, there is chapter after chapter of good advice, and page after page of good exercises. The time it may have taken for me to find and order the book is paid off in time saved searching for new information.
4. You Can Carry It With You. I find that most writing books are such that I don’t want to read them all in one sitting. Instead I want to read a chapter, digest it and perhaps try an exercise, returning to the book later. A hardcopy book allows me that freedom wherever I am. You can take it on holiday, on a picnic, on the train to work, and dip into it without internet access.
Of course, I feel mildly hypocritical blogging on my writing blog about why you should choose a writing book over a blog. In fact, what I am saying is that whilst writing blogs and websites (like this one) are wonderful tools, so, too, are writing books. Neither is necessarily better. You can use both. Just a collection of links and bookmarks is an invaluable tool, so too is a carefully chosen library of hardcopy writing books.
In my next post I’ll share the titles of some of the books in my collection, and give some hints on how to choose a writing book for your own needs.