resources

I found the following pages particularly useful for non-fiction creative projects.mistake

Keith’s Head’s Introduction Formula for writing a successful presentation.

Don Davis on picking a research topic.

Marc Bellamare’s ‘best books on writing’ in his own words:

Common Errors in English Language, by Paul Brians. Before I got Brians’ book, I consulted his website about a million times. If you think there is only one selection criteria to get admitted into a PhD program, if you think prices effect quantity, and if you are the kind of person who orders an expresso, Brians’ gentle sarcasm will correct you and leave you smiling. 

The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, by Charles Doyle. I don’t use proverbs very often when writing academic articles. But when writing for nonacademic audiences, or when giving talks, I sometimes like to use proverbs to illustrate a point or to add color to my writing. What I like about this book is that you can search the index by the name of the person an anecdote refers to.
The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes by Clifton Fadiman. As with proverbs, I mostly use anecdotes when writing for nonacademic audiences or when giving talks, as I find that anecdotes can be great to make a point or for a bit of comic relief. Sometimes, I’ll even leaf through this book to read anecdotes about famous people. What I like about this book is that you can search the index by topic (e.g., money, patience, food, etc.)
Ernest Hemingway on Writing, by Larry W. Phillips. Hemingway thought it was bad luck to talk about writing, so Phillips has assembled a collection of those rare instances where Hemingway did make an offhand remark about writing, and it makes for a very enjoyable read. Whether you suffered through The Old Man and the Sea or absolutely loved For Whom the Bell Tolls, you cannot deny that Hemingway could write, and the reasons why are distilled as best as possible in this book. 
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. This a book everyone loves to hate, but it is perhaps the most useful book in the arsenal of anyone who has to write for a living. I like this book not so much because it can teach you “style,” but because it teaches you how to write without making mistakes (e.g., how to use “e.g.” and “i.e.” properly), and as someone who went to school in English for the first time at the age of 25, this book has had a high return on investment.

A Guide for the Young Economist, by William Thomson. If you plan on becoming an academic economist, Thomson’s book is great. He tells you how to effectively write papers and referee reports, as well as how to prepare talks. Though the advice here is mostly for economic theorists, all of us will have to write or speak about theory at some point, so the advice is very useful for everyone. Note that this is the only econ-specific book in my list–I have read McCloskey’s Economical Writing a few times, but I don’t know that it has changed my thinking the way the books in this list did.

On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. When it comes to writing nonfiction well, and not just writing without making mistakes, Zinsser is the man. He covers how to write for different kinds of audiences, how to write different kinds of articles (e.g., interviews, business writing, travelogues, etc.), and what to expect. It while reading Zinsser that I realized that academic writing did not have to be boring, and that it was possible to have your own voice even when writing for an academic audience: If E.B. White could turn an article about hens into a page-turner (cue joke about agricultural economics), then I could certainly turn an article on food riots into something people actually enjoyed reading, and I could certainly write in a way that would make the people who know me say “That sounds exactly the way Marc would say it!”