Within an arm’s length of any good writer’s keyboard, you will inevitably find a number of tattered reference books. There will be a dictionary for spelling and definitions, a thesaurus for synonyms, and several stylebooks for – well, style. And why do writers have these? Because the English language has an infinite number of rules, exceptions to rules, evolving rules and obsolete rules and it is the writer’s job to strike a balance between what is acceptable and what isn’t.
Over the years, I’ve spoken with countless writers, editors and successful business people about what books they read and I’ve stumbled across many of my own resources that I simply could not live without. And today, I’m going to share a few of them with you - no charge! This is certainly not the last word in reference book lists and I’m not saying you need to run out and buy every book on it, but if you are serious about your writing, the top five are a great place to start to build your library.
1. Any large dictionary (no, not the “pocket” kind). Mine’s a Webster and yes, I use it almost every day.
2. Roget’s Thesaurus (and/or www.thesaurus.com)
3. Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications. Don’t let the name fool you. If you have ever agonized over things like clipart or clip art; email or e-mail or disk or disc, this is the reference for you. Honestly, every business owner should have this book.
4. Strunk & White’s Elements of Style – Because it’s a classic, and chock-full of fundamental writing principals.
5. The Chicago Manual of Style – The granddaddy of all stylebooks. If you are even considering publishing anything ever, you will need this book.
6. AP Stylebook or www.apstylebook.com – another definitive resource (especially if you ever write newspaper articles or press releases).
If all you want to do is brush up on some of the basics, here are a few of my favorite fun, helpful books (but you still need that dictionary):
Woe is I – by Patricia T. O’Conner
Eats, Shoots and Leaves – by Lynne Truss
Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun and Spite – by June Casagrande
Have a favorite? Share it with me!
Until next week,
Write (and read) on!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I personally prefer books with pictures, but I think I may give some of your recommendations a try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI prefer books with pictures, too, Hayley! Even my dictionary has illustrations! :o)
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books (without which I doubt I would have a career) is "The Complete Plain Words." It is invaluable for cutting to the chase of what you'd like to say.
ReplyDeleteOf course, my current employer thinks I am still too wordy, but everyone has a style and I'm unlikely ever to match his (though I must continue to try).
I also enjoy Lapsing into Comma and The Transitive Vampire, but the best thesaurus for my money is The Synonym Finder, by Rodale. Everything Wiiliam Safire has written about language is great too, although I find his speech-writing career pretty offensive. And Edwin Woolley's Handbook of Composition (1907) makes a nice distraction when I'm feeling especially pedantic.
ReplyDeleteSome day, could you clarify the rule on when to use were and when to use was after if? I would appreciate that.