Writing Resources
by Becky Rohner
Each of us has a resource book to which we turn for help. Those who brought their favorites expressed their appreciation for that help. I found it delightful to observe, as we progressed through the conference, how many times those resouce books were used as we answered the challenge of writing assignments.
Karen Cantrill brought The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young (Avon Reference) PE1519.Y68 1991
Carrie Marsh brought Creativity Rules by John Vorhaus, which may be found at Borders Books.
Delsa Anderson brought the book we all used the most, The Reader's Digest Dictionary. This was an older book, with many different sections grouping thing together. The book was about 4 or 5 inches thick. She reminded us that we need a good dictionary, then strengthened her remarks to say that, after reading our e-mails, she concluded that this group needed a BIG one! She also discussed a book, whose title she recalled as Shut Up, He Explained, which may be found in the public library.
Linda Whiting brought Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. This is a book of instructions on writing and life.
Margaret Turley brought Writing Mysteries—A Handbook for Mystery Writers from Writer's Digest Books, edited by Sue Grafton. She admonished us to write down our "elusive wisps of ideas" for later usage.
Marsha Ward brought her "alphaSmart 3000" keyboard. It is like a laptop without the price, and has a cable to download directly to your computer when you return home. It weighs 3 pounds, goes 700 hours on three AA batteries, and only costs about $300. Look for it at smartinput.com or alphasmart.com or in ads in "Writers Digest" or "ByLine" magazines.
Stephanie Abney discussed a series of books giving information regarding a certain period of time: Everyday Life in... i.e. Colonial America, which would give the clothing, food, livelihood—lots of information regarding that period of time.
She also brought a little square block of a book called Writer's Block by Jason Rekulak—$10. You open it anywhere and it will give you a suggestion to help you break writer's block.
She brought Merriam Webster's Guide to Punctuation and Style, and several Writer's Digest Guides ("Writing Success", "Writing From the Heart") she found on the magazine racks in book stores, which have a better selection than racks in Wal-Mart, Target, or grocery stores.
She brought the Children's Writer's Word Book by Alihandra Mogilner, which lists words grouped by age, has a grade-level thesaurus and a guide to reading levels for synonyms, plus advice and tips on word usage for children. For those of you who write for children, this book is a must.
Becky Rohner brought nearly her whole library of source books, lacking only Bartlett's Quotations. Her group consisted of:
- The New York Public Library's Desk Reference
- The ultimate one-volume collection of the most frequently sought information
- Essentials of English
- Practical handbook of grammar and effective writing techniques
- Charles Sheffield's Borderlands of Science
- How to think like a scientist and write science fiction
- Strunk & White's The Elements of Style
- The Reader's Digest Word Power Quiz Book
- The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference
- with an introduction by Terry Brooks
- Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library's American Indian Myths and Legends
- selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz
- 1985 Fiction Writer's Market
- Writer's Library's Descriptionary
- A Thematic Dictionary
- Marc McCutcheon—the book for when you know what it is, but not what it's called
- Renni Browne & Dave King's Self Editing for Fiction Writers
- How to edit yourself into print
- Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Frances & Joseph Gies' Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel
- Technology and invention in the Middle Ages
- Roget's Super Thesaurus
- Marc McCutcheon
- The New York Public Library's Science Desk Reference
- The only one-volume collection of the most frequently sought information in every field of science
- World Book Encyclopedia's Winning with Words—How to Write Effectively
- William Safire and Leonard Safire's Good Advice on Writing
- Great quotations from writers past and present on how to write well
- David Grambs' The Describer's Dictionary
- A treasury of terms and literary quotations for readers and writers
- Getting Your Book Published for Dummies
- by Sarah Parsons Zackheim with Adrian Zackheim
A great thanks to all for your participation in sharing resources that will enhance our talent.
Becky Rohner is the award-winning co-author of A Heart Full of Diamonds, published by MediaBay and available exclusively through Audio Book Club.
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