Stuff for Writers
Here are some tools I’ve found useful for both creative and technical writing. If anyone has suggestions for other useful books, I’d be happy to add them here. Just send me an email.
On Writing
On Writing – Stephen King: This book is written in Stephen King’s usual, straight-forward no b.s. manner. He talks about his own writing experiences and has some great tips for new writers.
Grammar and Style
Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose – Constance Hale: This is probably one of the funniest books about grammar I have ever read. Constance Hale is witty and articulate without being a word snob. The rules of grammar are laid out simply and definitively. Read it, enjoy it and learn from it.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves – Lynne Truss: Think punctuation is boring? Think again. Eats, Shoots and Leaves made it to the best-seller list for a reason. Truss advocates good punctuation and spelling for concise and clear writing. There are several hilarious examples of both poor (or no) punctuation and spelling, as well as practical instruction on correct punctuation and spelling.
The Elements of Style – William Strunk and E.B. White: At 105 pages and $13.95 (CDN) this is probably the best guide to grammar and style you’ll ever own. Strunk and White get down to business right from page one and lay out all the basics you’ll ever need. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket and is entertaining and informative. If you buy nothing else, buy this book.
The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers: This book is widely accepted as a standard style guide for many writers. The CMOS has a clear layout and it is easy to find whatever you’re after. There are some who prefer the layout of the 14th edition (this one is the 15th ed.), so it may be worth while to look at both and see what is easier to read. However, the 15th ed. is the more up to date version in terms of current language usage.
Technical Writing
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications: If you are a technical writer, this book is invaluable. This book offers guidelines and rules for writing manuals. While much of the book is geared towards those who write about software, the rules can apply to writing about anything. Microsoft’s book is clearly laid out, well written and very, very useful.
Reference
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers – Joseph Gibaldi: This is a great book for English students in highschool, university or college. I have the fourth edition of this book and I used it A LOT in university. I would recommend this book for any student who will be writing essays or reports.
Dictionary and Thesaurus: I won’t advocate any particular dictionary or thesaurus for your shelf, but I think every writer should have one of each. I’ve been using the Concise Oxford English Dictionary with no problems, along with the Oxford Thesaurus of English. They can be a little expensive if you want the most recent editions, but it’s money well spent.
Linky Goodness
Reference
Dictionary.com: Also has an online thesaurus, access to language-specific dictionaries, word of the day, games, a translator and you can download their toolbar to look up words even faster.
Merriam-Webster Online: This site also has an online thesaurus, a word of the day and games. There is also a podcast, and online store and Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online: A basic dictionary to look up words.
AskOxford.com: Search for words, names and quotes.
Online Etymology Dictionary: Discover the origin of the words we use everyday. For example: etymology – 1398, from Gk. etymologia, from etymon “true sense” (neut. of etymos “true,” related to eteos “true”) + logos “word.” In classical times, of meanings; later, of histories. Latinized by Cicero as veriloquium.
W3 Schools: This site covers everything from HTML to .NET ASP. There are also quizzes, certification, and tools to validate your work. Best of all, this site is free.
Tools
Adobe Products: Adobe has many products that are pretty standard throughout the technical writing community. RoboHelp is a major one and you can download a 30-day free trial of this (highly recommended). Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash and Framemaker are also pretty useful if you’re looking to really impress potential employers. The only downside is, if you’ve never used this stuff, buying it so you can practise is expensive.
MadCap: MadCap’s Flare is a new authoring software rival for Adobe’s Robohelp. This software also has a 30-day free trial and again, I would highly recommend trying it out.
Serenity Software: Serenity Software’s Editor is the answer to inadequate spelling and grammar checkers everywhere. Editor runs on Windows 98SE, 2000 and XP and requires minimal memory. No word yet on whether it will also run on the new Windows Vista.
Style Guides
I have yet to find any really great guides online, but I’ll keep looking. So far it seems the best thing to do is simply buy them or borrow them from the library.
Editing
Copyeditor’s Marks: A handy cheatsheet of editor’s marks.
Technical Writing Blogs, Pages and Miscellany
Creating Passionate Users: A weblog by the authors of the Head First series writing about current issues in technical communication. Has links to other sites that comment on Creating Passionate Users articles as well as new technical communication sites.
The Writing Show: A weblog with podcasts on technical writing. This site is dedicated to writing in general with much of the information available as a portable podcast. The shows can also be heard directly on the site with no need to download.
Will Kelly: A personal weblog by a technical writer about technical writing. There are many links here to other writing-related sites and articles. A well written, entertaining and useful site.
KnowGenesis Online Library for Technical Communication: Website houses articles, links to other technical communication sites and is free for all users.