What is the single best resource you have come across and use for writing advice?

[JayJams78]

So I was thinking about this, thinking about all the study and reading I have done in honing my writer's craft. For all the words written by writers on the subject, it has, for me, been best condensed in two books. The first, because of the narrative format and digestibility of very solid advice, Stephen King's book On Writing; second is the classic that I believe should be a well worn essential in every serious writer's library, of course William Strunk's The Elements of Style.

So what is your pick? Online or offline, paper or digital, what are your go to resources to help fine tune and clean up your writing?

 

[SamScribble]

So what is your pick? Online or offline, paper or digital, what are your go to resources to help fine tune and clean up your writing?

The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors followed by The New Fowler's Modern English Usage - but then I'm from the other side of the pond.

 

[KeithD]

The Internet.

 

[lovecraft68]

I default to the three best words in advertising ever.

Just do it.

I'm also a proponent of the Kiss theory.

 

[Comshaw]

I write, I coop from others and I listen. There's much to be said for keeping your mouth shut and your ears open. But I am also a book person. I have shelves and shelves of books, some of which are instructional. Several are on writing: The Elements of Grammar, Revising Fiction, Word Lover's dictionary and one that I still have to have (because spell checkers cannot at times make sense of what word I'm trying to spell) Webster's New World speller/Divider to name a few.

But I think the guy up yonder ↑ said it best, just do it. Write, fall on your face, get up, revise it, do it again. Ain't no better way to learn than by doing.

Comshaw

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't have one. I have multiple sources, and they're useful for different purposes.

Strunk & White's Elements of Style is not, strictly speaking, for fiction, but I can't think of a better really short, simple distillation of the basic principles of grammar and punctuation. The first part contains a list of basic rules that apply to any sort of writing. It's very useful.

I use the Chicago Manual of Style as a much more comprehensive reference for grammar and punctuation. It is the "authoritative" resource for American fiction, because it's used by publishing house editors. There's a hard back version, which I have, and an online version one can subscribe to.

I have a variety of dictionaries and thesauruses, but I agree with KeithD that the best resource on this point is the Internet. There are free, comprehensive, and instantly accessible dictionaries and thesauruses on the Internet.

IMO, there is no substitute for reading a lot of fiction. If you want to write, you should read a lot. You do NOT have to read so-called "great fiction" to write well. There are some very good "genre" authors, especially in the field of detective/crime fiction, who write good, clear prose, and IMO authors who are new to fiction-writing, as I was when I started 5 years ago, are well advised to read such authors. I like Elmore Leonard a lot. I also like John Le Carre and Elizabeth George. Leonard distilled his prose-writing into 10 rules that I think are good:https://www.writingclasses.com/tool...riting -,the part that readers tend to skip. . There's no one "right" way to write fiction, but it helps to start off by knowing how to write good, clear prose.

I like Elizabeth George's book Write Away as good guide by a successful novelist on how to write fiction, but I also think you can only get so much out of books like these. You have to just write and see how it goes. You can't learn to ride a bicycle by reading about it.

Finally, read the How-To essays here at Literotica. There's a wealth of information that covers almost every topic one could imagine.

 

[JayJams78]

I did think of one more I'd almost forgotten: Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing by Constance Hale. Hands down the best book on powerful verb usage I have ever read, written so it doesn't feel like the tedium of reading a grammar textbook. As a bonus, she gives, in small doses at a time, a fascinating, comprehensive history of language overview, as well as history of the roots of English and why such history matters in how and what verbs we choose on our writing today. Frankly, the book is brilliance itself.

 

[HeyAll]

I don't know about sources for writing advice, but I like using 'word hippo' to find new words, and grammarly for a free grammar check.

 

[jsmiam]

For me, it’s been…. (Drumroll)…

Literotica.

I’ve never written a word of fiction in my life before or since. At work I think I put together good technical documents, but never fiction.

And in an odd twist of fate, the stakes and barriers to entry here being so low becones a huge positive. I’ll blend “just try it” with “just do it”, in spite of making Yoda unhappy with me. And considering the red light district aspect , the anonymity also fosters just trying it.

So little ole Literotica is where I got my start. I also have a plot in my head (had it for 15 years) for a mainstream dark comedythriller, so when it becomes a best seller then a movie, It’ll all have started right here. They don’t know it yet, but Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason will reunite (In Bruges, great movie) for the starring roles. I apologize in advance to Lit that I won’t be able to acknowledge them when I’m rich and famous.

 

[jehoram]

So I was thinking about this, thinking about all the study and reading I have done in honing my writer's craft. For all the words written by writers on the subject, it has, for me, been best condensed in two books. The first, because of the narrative format and digestibility of very solid advice, Stephen King's book On Writing; second is the classic that I believe should be a well worn essential in every serious writer's library, of course William Strunk's The Elements of Style.

So what is your pick? Online or offline, paper or digital, what are your go to resources to help fine tune and clean up your writing?

I'm not sure what you're asking for. For the mechanics, you can use any of the resources that have already been mentioned. One other resource is William Zinsser's books:

https://writingcooperative.com/william-zinssers-top-13-writing-tips-9b3f87af9674

Note that the article focuses on non-fiction, but those points are equally valid for fiction.

As for self-editing, it helps to write something and then put in on the shelf for a while, and then re-examine it with fresher eyes. I think somebody has noted that when you put something in larger type in a different font, you're more able to pick up things like typos or the wrong words for things.