What BOOK can't you WRITE without?

[yui]

What BOOK can't you WRITE without?

Hello,

I've been lurking for some time and I haven't noticed a thread that addresses the topic of what books you use when you write (if I have missed it, please forgive a semi-newbie). I am always looking for good reference books (or websites) relating to language and writing, and I thought this forum would be a good place to seek suggestions.

Reference Books: I personally do not function very well without The American Heritage College Dictionary and Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus (brilliant, simply brilliant).

How-To Books: Sol Stein's book How to Grow a Novel had some very interesting suggestions for the would-be author and I found the text itself to be very readable.

I think this could be an interesting topic as this forum attracts such a diverse group of intelligent individuals…so please add your suggestions if you are so inclined.

Thank you in advance,

Yui ^_^

 

[matriarch]

What BOOK can't you WRITE without?

Hello,

I've been lurking for some time and I haven't noticed a thread that addresses the topic of what books you use when you write (if I have missed it, please forgive a semi-newbie). I am always looking for good reference books (or websites) relating to language and writing, and I thought this forum would be a good place to seek suggestions.

Reference Books: I personally do not function very well without The American Heritage College Dictionary and Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus (brilliant, simply brilliant).

How-To Books: Sol Stein's book How to Grow a Novel had some very interesting suggestions for the would-be author and I found the text itself to be very readable.

I think this could be an interesting topic as this forum attracts such a diverse group of intelligent individuals…so please add your suggestions if you are so inclined.

Thank you in advance,

Yui ^_^

Oxford English Dictionary.

That's all.

Sorry that was a tad brief.

Most of my references are taken from on line.
As well as the OED in reality, on line I use:
Dictionary.com;
an on-line currency conversion site - www.xe.com/ucc;
babelfish translation
Mapquest
'several adult toy sites' (babeland.com in USA, and sh-womenstore.com in UK)
Poemhunter.com

......and for future use, British Sign Language site (I did a basic course in this last year - loved it),
National train timetables, Bus timetables, ordnance survey map site, various recipe sites..........and the list goes on. I find it much more conducive to the continuity of my work, if I have all the information I need, or may need in the future, at my fingertips. Ergo, the internet.

For more specialist references, such as religion, cultures, I have a variety of reference books, but even those can be accessed through the internet, and usually much faster.

And having read this through, it sounds as if I don't like books. WRONG! I adore books, the feel, sight, smell of them, couldn't live without them. But there are times when modern technology is very very useful and time-saving.

Mat

 

[Guest]

Yep, like Mat. I have an OED combo dictionary/thesaurus. All I need.

Perdita

 

[BlackSnake]

The bible to pray that I don't get struck by lightening while I'm writing this stuff...lol

 

[TheEarl]

I don't tend to use either a dictionary of thesaurus in my writing. I've never got on well with thesauruses - they never give me the word that's on the tip of my tongue. I probably should learn to use both books better, but my working vocabulary is usually more than sufficient.

"On Writing" by Stephen King is my bible, but I don't tend to use it as I write. Just read it every now and then for spiritual revival.

The Earl

 

[yui]

The bible to pray that I don't get struck by lightening while I'm writing this stuff...lol

Yui eyes the ceiling nervously…

Lightning?

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

Earl, I only began using a thesaurus a few years ago. I too always thought my vocabulary sufficient but I put my pride to the side and discovered the nuance of meanings via a thesaurus cum dictionary. Try it sometime with that in mind, vs. merely looking for the word you can't recall.

Pear

 

[Guest]

It's the electronic age. I usually write on my main computer and have dictionary.com open on another close by. As well as any research I've looked up. Leaves the desk a little less cluttered and less like ly to have Irish Mist spilled all over the pages.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

For dictionaires and thesauri, I use on -line stuff. "One-look Dictionary Search" simultaneously searches something like 20 dictionaries and encylcopedia: (http://www.onelook.com/) For a thesaurus, I use what's on Bartleby: (http://www.bartleby.com/)

The only book I use is an ancient high school English grammar book from like 1962 that I got at a used bookstore.

Sometimes I'll drag down a phone book to look for good surnames.

---dr.M.

 

[cantdog]

I have a shelf of translating dictionaries, a Petit Robert, a Duden. a directory of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and a cool synonyms/antonyms dictionary. Plus the OED, the two-volume with the magnifier.

Most of the time I don't use any of them.


cantdog

 

[Guest]

Most of the time I don't use any of them.

I like that Dawg. P.

 

[Octavian]

Like what TheEarl rights

LikeTheEarl I don’t use no dickshonarry or thesore ass. I reckon my no ledge of inglish and grandma is ok.
If I don’t no how to spel the word I don’t rite it. Its simple rearly.

Octavian

“Encase your majestic tree of manhood in the sublimely soft wondrous wet hallowed depths of my body,” she implored.
“Oh,” he replied, “you mean you wanna fuck!”

 

[TheEarl]

Earl, I only began using a thesaurus a few years ago. I too always thought my vocabulary sufficient but I put my pride to the side and discovered the nuance of meanings via a thesaurus cum dictionary. Try it sometime with that in mind, vs. merely looking for the word you can't recall.

Pear

I tell a lie, I do use the thesaurus encased in Word occasionally. It's crap, but ti is a quick and easy way to remind myself of that word which is hanging on the end of my tongue.

Pear: How can you use a thesaurus apart from when you need an alternative word? Genuinely interested, as I didn't realise they had another use.

The Earl

 

[BlackSnake]

Any good erotic thesaurus out there?

Appetite - craving, demand, gluttony, greed, hunger, inclination, longing, lust, passion, ravenousness, relish, taste, thirst, urge, voracity, weakness, willingness, yearning,

Arouse - agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet,

Brutal - atrocious, barbarous, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, feral, ferocious, hard, harsh, heartless, inhuman, merciless, murderous, pitiless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, savage, severe, terrible, unmerciful, vicious,

Delicious - enticing, exquisite, luscious, lush, rich, savory, tempting,

Ecstasy - delectation, delirium, elation, euphoria, fervor, frenzy, joy, rapture, transport,

Ecstatic - delirious, enraptured, euphoric, fervent, frenzied, joyous, transported, wild,

Erotic - amatory, amorous, aphrodisiac, carnal, earthy, erogenous, fervid, filthy, hot, impassioned, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, raw, romantic, rousing, salacious, seductive, sensual, sexual, spicy, steamy, stimulating, suggestive, titillating, venereal, voluptuous,

Gasp - gulp, heave, wheeze, choke, inhale, snort

Heated - ardent, avid, excited, fervent, fervid, fierce, fiery, frenzied, furious, impassioned, intense, passionate, raging, scalding, scorched, stormy, tempestuous, vehement, violent,

Hunger - appetite, ache, craving, gluttony, greed, longing, lust, mania, ravenousness, voracity, want, yearning

Hungry - avid, carnivorous, covetous, craving, eager, greedy, hungered, rapacious, ravenous, starved, unsatisfied, voracious,

Liquid - damp, ichorous, juicy, moist, luscious, melted, moist, pulpy, sappy, solvent, succulent, viscous, wet / aqueous, broth, elixir, extract, flux, juice, liquor, nectar, sap, sauce, secretion, solution, vitae,

Lithe - agile, lean, pliant, slight, spare, supple

Moving - (exciting,) affecting, affective, arousing, awakening, breathless, dynamic, eloquent, emotional, emotive, expressive, facund, far-out, felt in gut, grabbed by, gripping, heartbreaking, heartrending, impelling, impressive, inspirational, meaningful, mind-bending, mind-blowing, motivating, persuasive, poignant, propelling, provoking, quickening, rallying, rousing, significant, stimulating, simulative, stirring, stunning, touching,

Need - compulsion, demand, devoir, extremity, longing, must, urge, urgency / desire, appetite, avid, burn, craving, eagerness, fascination, greed, hunger, insatiable, longing, lust, taste, thirst, voracious, want, yearning,

Pleasurable - charming, gratifying, luscious, satisfying, savory,

Pleasure - bliss, gluttony, gratification, relish, satisfaction, thrill,

Rapacious - avaricious, ferocious, furious, greedy, predatory, ravening, ravenous, savage, voracious

Rapture - bliss, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, glory, gratification, passion, pleasure,

Rigid - adamant, austere, definite, determined, exact, firm, hard, rigorous, solid, stern, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding

Thrust - (forward) advance, drive, impetus, impulsion, lunge, momentum, onslaught, poke, pressure, prod, propulsion, punch, push, shove,

Thrust - (push hard) assail, assault, attack, bear down, buck, drive, force, heave, impale, impel, jab, lunge, plunge, press, prod, ram, shove, stab, transfix, urge,

Thunderstruck - amazed, astonished, aghast, astounded, awestruck, confounded, dazed, dazed, dismayed, overwhelmed, shocked, staggered, startled, stunned,

Torment - agony, anguish, misery, pain, punishment, suffering,

Writhe - agonize, bend, jerk, recoil, lurch, plunge, slither, squirm, struggle, suffer, thrash, thresh, twist, wiggle, wriggle,

 

[oggbashan]

Babies names

I have several books for naming a baby.

When I want a character's name, I flip through one of the books until I find a name that suits my idea of the character, but I usually end up with the same old favourites.

Og

 

[Guest]

Pear: How can you use a thesaurus apart from when you need an alternative word? Genuinely interested, as I didn't realise they had another use.

Earl dear, first, stop with the tongue imagery. Eew.

It may not even be that I need an alternative word. I look up a word in a thesaurus and oft'imes find a more appealing word. I like that. Or I might find a word I question as an alternative or synonym so I then look it up in the OED (or even online) and the definition might lead me to another word, or even to reconsider my original word, or even my intent in its use. It's a wonderful way to learn about English, how it works. I love doing this and I believe often enough it has enhanced or bettered my writing, even fiction.

Pear

 

[shereads]

The Synonym Finder



I never met a thesaurus I didn't hate until someone finally invented one that's as simple to use as a dictionary. Caution: coworkers will return a borrowed thesaurus, but not a borrowed copy of The Synonym Finder. I've replaced three vanished ones.

The U.S. News & World Report Stylebook

Published as a guide for editors and writers for the magazine, Stylebook is useful for all kinds of things: as a tie-breaker when someone questions your use of semi-colons; when you're called upon to write a news article and can't decide whether the editorial tradition of Last Name/No Title should apply equally to Tony Blair and members of the House of Windsor. (No.)

Lad, A Dog. By Albert Payson Terhune.

If you need to know what a collie would do in a given situation, look no further.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I use a Swedish-English dictionary, to help me translate words like "cerebral cortex" and "thyme".

 

[Guest]

 

[Svenskaflicka]

No, it's a book about the post-war feministic approach to marine poetry, why?

 

[Guest]

 

[Clare Quilty]

Writing a cookbook?

This is one of the funniest things I've read on this board.

 

[Clare Quilty]

I routinely employ two guides when I endeavor to brave the maelstrom of narrative prose, The Chicago Manual of Style and The Gotham Writers' Workshop: Fiction Writing. If I am writing in a coffee shop, as I am wont to do, I will use good old Strunk and White’s in lieu of the CMoS, as the latter will not fit in my messenger bag.

 

[Guest]

Quilty, I've never consulted any style or grammar manual (got it all from the nuns). I do wonder what you need to look up, but you need not tell me. P.