Numer 12 is revise NS using the comments I now have from a very kind reader. So.

This is a question for all you writers reading this: What writing books can't you live without? If you had to cut down your collection to oh, say, three writing-related books, what would they be?

Here are mine:

1. The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook. My copy has been used and used until the binding is quite shot. It's not the best character naming book out there (that distinction goes to one I don't have the name for offhand, and I'm not even sure I still own it) but it's been very useful to me and my characters when they show up without names.

2. Roget's Super Thesaurus. Everyone needs a good thesaurus, and not one that's on your computer or word processing program. This one has never disappointed me.

3. Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns and Goblins: An Encyclopedia. In all honesty, I used this book much more often than Katherine Briggs'A Dictionary of Fairies (which you can find, btw; don't pay attention to this price.) This book's a good starting point on further folkloric study, and has a great bibliography at the end.


Notice there's no grammar or style books on my list. No "How to get published" books. No books written by famous authors (although I did read On Writing and enjoyed it, I'm not sure I still own it. If I do, it's in Storage.) Nothing by Natalie Goldberg or that other lady.

The books I've listed are useful. (Yes, I do expect flack from that statement, or I would if anyone else reads this...)

So. Anyone else want to add theirs?

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