References
October 31st 2006 10:34
Do you have any? Are they needed? What’s that, your grannie will give you a reference. Bugger that for a joke. I’m talking about reference books. Do you have any? Are they needed?
If you said no to either question then you are probably missing out on getting your writing published.
It’s a long, hard slog getting published. Every advantage, every edge you can grasp in perfecting your writing will move you ahead of the millions of other writers wanting to get published.
Attention to detail requires much more than dotting your “i”s and sticking commas in appropriate places.
So do you have any reference books? Perhaps a good dictionary or encyclopaedia. Is this enough for a serious writer? I would have to say, probably not.
What should you have? Well, two books that any writer should have are; “The Writers Journey” by Christopher Vogler and “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell.
Beyond these you will need to take into account what genre you are writing in. Myself I write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I also write on renewable energy.
My reference library contains such books as: 1) “The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols”, a superb book for finding the symbolism that will reach inside your reading audience and make them believe. 2) “Dictionary of Non Classical Mythology”, need a god or hero, this is a great book. Sorry but it has been out of print for close to eighty years. Found mine in a second hand book store. 3) Then there is “Eats Shoots and Leaves” by Lyn Truss, Need to know where that comma goes? This is a great book that can tell you. 4) And of course I would be lost without “A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms” by G.A. Wilkes.
I also have a large library of Sci-fi and Fantasy, not to forget several books on writing and editing, Style Manuals, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish dictionaries.
Could I write with out these? Yes, of course. Would I want to? No way.
What about on line references? Well, have you got several lifetimes to spend reading. To start with have a look at;
http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.wordspy.com/index.asp
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/ (This is a free dictionary down load)
If you said no to either question then you are probably missing out on getting your writing published.
It’s a long, hard slog getting published. Every advantage, every edge you can grasp in perfecting your writing will move you ahead of the millions of other writers wanting to get published.
Attention to detail requires much more than dotting your “i”s and sticking commas in appropriate places.
So do you have any reference books? Perhaps a good dictionary or encyclopaedia. Is this enough for a serious writer? I would have to say, probably not.
What should you have? Well, two books that any writer should have are; “The Writers Journey” by Christopher Vogler and “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell.
Beyond these you will need to take into account what genre you are writing in. Myself I write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I also write on renewable energy.
My reference library contains such books as: 1) “The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols”, a superb book for finding the symbolism that will reach inside your reading audience and make them believe. 2) “Dictionary of Non Classical Mythology”, need a god or hero, this is a great book. Sorry but it has been out of print for close to eighty years. Found mine in a second hand book store. 3) Then there is “Eats Shoots and Leaves” by Lyn Truss, Need to know where that comma goes? This is a great book that can tell you. 4) And of course I would be lost without “A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms” by G.A. Wilkes.
I also have a large library of Sci-fi and Fantasy, not to forget several books on writing and editing, Style Manuals, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish dictionaries.
Could I write with out these? Yes, of course. Would I want to? No way.
What about on line references? Well, have you got several lifetimes to spend reading. To start with have a look at;
http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.wordspy.com/index.asp
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/ (This is a free dictionary down load)
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