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Books on Writing
Quote from Keira Marcos on September 7, 2016, 7:55 pmRecommended by Keira
Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr & E.B. White (Download a free the PDF version for free)
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Recommended by Keira
Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr & E.B. White (Download a free the PDF version for free)
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Quote from Keira Marcos on September 7, 2016, 7:56 pmBooks recommended by Zellieh
The Bedford Handbook For Writers, by Diana Hacker. (US English)
I like the way it’s laid out. I can dip into it to find the answers quickly, and it makes sense to me. It’s been around for years, and I have the Third Edition; there are many more recent ones available. Diana Hacker may have passed away; the more recent editions have a co-author who I believe has taken over for her.The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, by Bryan A Garner. (US English)
I’m a Brit writing in a lot of America fandoms. This one can help me with those niggling little language differences where the UK and the US turn out to be ‘two countries separated by a common language’.The Penguin Writer’s Manual, by Martin Manser & Stephen Curtis. (British English)
This is the opposite: it’s a book on British usage and grammar, which can be quite hard to find, because so many rulebooks give you the rules for American English.The Poet’s Manual and Rhyming Dictionary, by Frances Stillman.
Obviously tremendously useful for poetry — it has outlines and examples of all the poetry forms and stanzas and metre and things like that — but sometimes the rhyming dictionary part is surprisingly useful for prose, when I’m stuck on a word I know exists, but I can only half-remember it.How NOT To Write A Novel by Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark.
More for fun than for detailed technical help, but great to dip into. They give little example scenes of the common mistakes authors make, and then explain why writing like that is a problem, all with a healthy dose of humour.
Books recommended by Zellieh
The Bedford Handbook For Writers, by Diana Hacker. (US English)
I like the way it’s laid out. I can dip into it to find the answers quickly, and it makes sense to me. It’s been around for years, and I have the Third Edition; there are many more recent ones available. Diana Hacker may have passed away; the more recent editions have a co-author who I believe has taken over for her.
The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, by Bryan A Garner. (US English)
I’m a Brit writing in a lot of America fandoms. This one can help me with those niggling little language differences where the UK and the US turn out to be ‘two countries separated by a common language’.
The Penguin Writer’s Manual, by Martin Manser & Stephen Curtis. (British English)
This is the opposite: it’s a book on British usage and grammar, which can be quite hard to find, because so many rulebooks give you the rules for American English.
The Poet’s Manual and Rhyming Dictionary, by Frances Stillman.
Obviously tremendously useful for poetry — it has outlines and examples of all the poetry forms and stanzas and metre and things like that — but sometimes the rhyming dictionary part is surprisingly useful for prose, when I’m stuck on a word I know exists, but I can only half-remember it.
How NOT To Write A Novel by Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark.
More for fun than for detailed technical help, but great to dip into. They give little example scenes of the common mistakes authors make, and then explain why writing like that is a problem, all with a healthy dose of humour.
Quote from darkseraphina on December 24, 2016, 6:22 pmI recently found a series of books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a series of Writer's Thesauruses on various topics like Negative Traits or Positive Traits or Urban Settings.
Here's an example from The Positive Trait Thesaurus (9780989772518)
COURAGEOUS
Definition: possessing the mental or moral resilience to face opposition, danger, or difficulties despite one's fear.
Similar Attributes: brave, dauntless, heroic, valiant
Possible Causes: desire to honour role models by living up to their moral standard and/or sacrifice (this is only one line of several)
Associated Behaviours: Doing what is right instead of what is easy, being strong for others, being confident, facing the unknown, belief in justice and equality (and many more)
Associated Emotions: determination, guilt, resignation, somberness, wariness, worry
Positive Aspects: ... they will step up, no matter the odds ... etc.
Negative Aspects: Courage, while commendable, is not always smart. etc.
Example from Literature: Frodo, Harry Potter (wow, who saw that coming, huh?)
Traits in Supporting Characters That May Cause Conflict: gullible, manipulative, reckless, self-destructive, selfish, violent, weak-willed
Challenging Scenarios For The Courageous Character: Dealing with a phobia, facing a situation where one has failed in the past, etc.As you can see, this is very useful for character profiles, but also for plotting interactions between characters. Another thing that I like is that, in the Emotion Thesaurus (9781475004953), there are also lists of the physical characteristics and behavioural results of emotions -- anger can make nostrils flare and veins pulse and make you hot or clench your teeth, as well as act rashly or impulsively (among other things). I thought these books were very clever references, as I've seen ones that show standard character traits but not each trait broken down like this.
The books are good sizes, about 250 pages each, with each trait or emotion getting the two facing pages, and are ebook and Print On Demand from Createspace. Surprisingly, I found several at my local library, so give them a try. Also, before you order online, try your local bookstore please! (unless you don't have one and then, sorry :(.) A good bookstore should be able to order these with no problem -- that's how I found them, by placing an order for someone else!
too.many.words.must.stop...
I recently found a series of books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a series of Writer's Thesauruses on various topics like Negative Traits or Positive Traits or Urban Settings.
Here's an example from The Positive Trait Thesaurus (9780989772518)
COURAGEOUS
Definition: possessing the mental or moral resilience to face opposition, danger, or difficulties despite one's fear.
Similar Attributes: brave, dauntless, heroic, valiant
Possible Causes: desire to honour role models by living up to their moral standard and/or sacrifice (this is only one line of several)
Associated Behaviours: Doing what is right instead of what is easy, being strong for others, being confident, facing the unknown, belief in justice and equality (and many more)
Associated Emotions: determination, guilt, resignation, somberness, wariness, worry
Positive Aspects: ... they will step up, no matter the odds ... etc.
Negative Aspects: Courage, while commendable, is not always smart. etc.
Example from Literature: Frodo, Harry Potter (wow, who saw that coming, huh?)
Traits in Supporting Characters That May Cause Conflict: gullible, manipulative, reckless, self-destructive, selfish, violent, weak-willed
Challenging Scenarios For The Courageous Character: Dealing with a phobia, facing a situation where one has failed in the past, etc.
As you can see, this is very useful for character profiles, but also for plotting interactions between characters. Another thing that I like is that, in the Emotion Thesaurus (9781475004953), there are also lists of the physical characteristics and behavioural results of emotions -- anger can make nostrils flare and veins pulse and make you hot or clench your teeth, as well as act rashly or impulsively (among other things). I thought these books were very clever references, as I've seen ones that show standard character traits but not each trait broken down like this.
The books are good sizes, about 250 pages each, with each trait or emotion getting the two facing pages, and are ebook and Print On Demand from Createspace. Surprisingly, I found several at my local library, so give them a try. Also, before you order online, try your local bookstore please! (unless you don't have one and then, sorry :(.) A good bookstore should be able to order these with no problem -- that's how I found them, by placing an order for someone else!
too.many.words.must.stop...
Quote from wynnebat on December 25, 2016, 5:00 pmI love those books! The authors also have a smaller, free book in a similar style to the Emotion Thesaurus called Emotion Amplifiers. It's available for download here: http://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/
I love those books! The authors also have a smaller, free book in a similar style to the Emotion Thesaurus called Emotion Amplifiers. It's available for download here: http://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/
Quote from MmzHrrdb on January 8, 2026, 8:16 pmQuote from Keira Marcos on September 7, 2016, 7:55 pmRecommended by Keira
Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr & E.B. White (Download a free the PDF version for free)
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Quote from Keira Marcos on September 7, 2016, 7:55 pmRecommended by Keira
Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr & E.B. White (Download a free the PDF version for free)
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell