Review: Write Attitude by Diana Bocco

Write Attitude by Diana Bocco
Link to buy
ASIN B00GGA5JK4
Rating: 4 out of 5

Review:

WRITE ATTITUDE by Diana Bocco is billed as a three-book collection that includes How They Did It, The Ten Habits of Successful Writers, and The $1000 Query Letter. Calling each of these three segments a separate "book" doesn't seem accurate. The entire book, with all three segments combined, is 131 pages. The first section is the longest of the three at 73 pages. That's short to be called a book by the traditional definition. It might have made more sense to combine all three books into one and simply publish it as a single title. 

Bocco's research technique was to ask professional writers about what they do, how much they earn doing it, and how they got where they are. This book could be useful for aspiring freelance writers who need ideas to inspire them in their careers. What readers won't find are step-by-step instructions to achieve career results similar to those of the authors spotlighted in the book. This isn't a how-to guide to start a freelancing career.

The first segment of WRITE ATTITUDE is How They Did It, a collection of 25 freelance writer interviews. The author gave each of the subjects the same list of questions, and the writers completed them. Questions such as how they made the leap to being full-time writers, how much they typically earn in a year, and what their work day is like. There are a variety of different genres represented, including writers who make their money selling articles, blogs, and books. That's particularly helpful because it presents different career options for aspiring freelancers.

The first few interviews make for interesting reading, and every writer has some valuable comments and insights. My favorite question was about advice they'd give to aspiring writers. The answers were varied and brought up some intriguing ideas I'd never heard before. However, after the first five or so interviews, reading the same questions over and over again became monotonous.  On the upside, the interview responses were well-written, which one would expect from a pool of professional writers.

Segment #2 is called The Ten Habits of Successful Writers. The list includes such habits as "Successful writers have discipline" or "Successful writers send their work out." The book offers insights from multiple authors about each topic and how they apply it to their own careers. Like Segment #1, the authors have some interesting points to make, although some of the habits are the same ones you see in every book or article about the writing profession.

Segment #3 is The $1000 Query Letter. In this reviewer's opinion, it was the best part of the book. It offered 16 real-life query letters written by different authors in different genres, ranging from trade magazine articles to romantic suspense novels. The queries' backgrounds were explained, including how long it took the project to sell and to whom it sold. It was particularly helpful seeing how authors with few if any publishing credits skirted around that deficit with well-worded query letters. The only problem was that it was a little depressing to see that some writers with a wealth of writing credits were still sending out queries destined for the slush pile. One would hope that at some point in a writing career, that uniquely unpleasant part of this profession would become obsolete.

Overall, this is an interesting book for both beginning and experienced writers. Everyone can benefit from learning new tips and techniques used by successful people in their field. Some of the information here is a bit too simplistic, for instance it's not particularly helpful to say that one habit of successful writers is being disciplined. All writers know they should be more disciplined, but there's no point in making them feel like they'll never be successful unless they spend 12 hours a day hunched over their computers. If readers take this book with a grain of salt and realize that some of the writers in here who claim that they write all day, every day, are probably exaggerating, then they'll doubtless get more out of it.

Reviewed by Peter W.