When should you use bullet points, and when numbers? And when checkboxes? Read on to find out.
Read MoreLists: Bullets or numbers or checkboxes?
Reference
Review: Waterhouse on newspaper style
This book may be thirty years old, but its advice is still pertinent. If you want to have a blitz or crackdown against, or shake-up of, bad writing (all examples of 'tabloidese'), then this is the book for you.
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A Practical Guide to Write On
I’ve provided this (a) as an example of how a manual should be set out and (b) in case you just happen to have a working Atari with this software on it!
Read MoreReview: Oulipo and Modern Thought (Update)
If your interest in the Oulipo goes beyond simply trying out their techniques, and you wish to learn about the context in which it was conceived and the developments in went through, you will find this book very useful.
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Reference books, by Terry Freedman
5 reference works for writers, and 4 kinds of useful works
Specific books, and general categories. Some of these books have been reviewed here before, but I thought it might be useful for people to have all of them in one place.
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Click the cover to see the book on Amazon UK (affiliate link)
Review: The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
I’ve been enjoying delving into the meaning of some of the expressions we come across all the time — and a few we don’t.
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Lexico website, by Terry Freedman
A potentially useful word website
Could this website be a substitute for a printed usage guide?
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Library shelves, by Terry Freedman
Search engine vs librarian: who "wins"?
In the central library close to my home, around 30 years ago, there was a brilliant librarian in the Reference section. It didn’t matter what you asked him, he would know the answer.
Read MoreA Writer’s Reference Toolkit: Style Guides (Updated)
There are two broad kinds of style guide. There is the generic type, containing advice on such things as whether to use “different from” or “different than”. And there is the specific type, ie specific to a particular publication. For example, should “internet” be spelled with a lower case “i”, or as “Internet”?. The specific style guide will tell you.
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Click the cover to see the book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: A-Z of Storytelling Techniques
As the title suggests, this book comprises 50 “techniques” of storytelling.
Read MoreReview: Oulipo and Modern Thought
If your interest in the Oulipo goes beyond simply trying out their techniques, and you wish to learn about the context in which it was conceived and the developments in went through, you will find this book very useful.
Read MoreReview of Grammarly -- Updated version
in News & views, Reference, Reviews
Read about a great proofreading tool.
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Dreyer’s English: click the pic to be taken to the book on Amazon (affiliate link).
What I've been reading: Dreyer's English
A no-nonsense style guide that manages to be both humorous and readable too.
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Collins Complete Writing Guide
Book review: Collins Complete Writing Guide
Should this book be in the reference section of your bookshelf, or is too lighthearted? Here’s my verdict.
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The Business of Being a Writer
Book review: The Business of Being a Writer
What does this book cover, and is it suitable for writers not based in the USA?
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Girl in black leather jacket. Photo from Pexels. Licence: CC0
10 note-taking apps for writers
in How to, Reviews, Technology, Reference
How can you remember all those ideas you have or snippets of conversation you hear while out and about? These ten note-taking approaches should help.
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Query letters that worked
Book review: Query letters that worked
This is an interesting book whose title under-promises and over-delivers.
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How to make money as a freelance writer
Book Review: How to make money as a freelance writer
Freelance writers’ earnings tend to be very low for most people. However, this book provides suggestions on how to make decent money in this field.
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What I've been reading: Something nasty in the slush pile (updated)
in Bookshelf, How to, Reviews, Bad writing, Reference
How should you pitch a publisher with your book proposal? Or, to look at this another way, how should you not do so? This book answers that question.
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What I've been reading: How not to write a novel
Even if you are a non-fiction writer, this book is worth reading.
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