Forum Moderators: not2easy
Writers Guild of America [wga.org]- Searchable site with an entire section devoted to research links [wga.org]. There's also a search feature that allows you to find writers though they usually just list the agent.
World Wide Words [quinion.com]- If you like to roll around in words this is the place. Find weird words, topical phrases, turns of a phrase as well as a collections of articles and a Q&A section compiled from questions asked by readers.
Bartleby's Usage Guide [bartleby.com]- A searchable usage guide created from a collection of classic and contemporary usage guides.
Strunk's Elements Of Style At Bartleby [bartleby.com] Elements of Style is a must if you're a writer. You don't have to agree with everything in the book but you should read it.
The King's English [bartleby.com]- In Fowler's words, "to pass by all rules, of whatever absolute importance, that are shown by observation to be seldom or never broken".
HyperGrammar [uottawa.ca]- An ongoing work that covers the basics, from the parts of speech to writing a paragraph.
Grammar Resources [writing-program.uchicago.edu]- A collection of grammar and style resources that are available online. There's a section for Science and Technical writing and for non-native English speakers.
Chiasmus [chiasmus.com]- "A grammatical figure by which the order of words in one of two of parallel clauses is inverted in the other." While you might not want to use a chiasmus in most of your writing this site will help keep your thinking fresh. ;)
Economist Style Guide [economist.com]- This is the same guide given to all the journalists that work for The Economist. I've found it to be incredibly helpful, especially the section on Americanisms.
Guide to Grammar and Writing [ccc.commnet.edu]- This is a clickable guide for writers covering everthing from sentence structure to logic. There's a section on logic, transitional tags and a Deadly Sins section. You can get lost in this site and learn quite a bit.
Fundamentals of English Grammar [engl.niu.edu]- "is a complete introduction to the basic syntactic structure of Modern English and the most common prescriptive errors in formal writing and how to avoid them" Drop-down navigation.
The Alternative Dictionary [notam02.no]- This is a list of phrases in languages from Acadian to Zulu. It's an ongoing project and not all languages are represented well but it's a nice place to go to grab a German phrase.
Logos [logos.net]- Excellent dictionary that allows you to translate, shows verb conjugations and synonyms.
Word Wizard [wordwizard.com]- Do you need to know the origin of an English word or phrase? Just ask using their natural language search. If you don't get an answer they have a forum devoted to answering questions about words and phrases.
Copyright Clearance Center [copyright.com]- Get permission to use copyrighted work or file a copyright. This site takes the pain out of copyright requests. Requires registration and it isn't free.
U.S. Copyright Office [lcweb.loc.gov]- All the copyright information you can ask for with a section devoted to how you can register your work.
Common Errors In English [wsu.edu]- Don't know the difference between Calvary and Cavalry? This is the place to find out. This site is a bit difficult to use, all the words are simply slapped on the page.
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant [powa.org]- Need to know how to thicken a plot? Want to learn how to use foreshadowing? Need help with a thesis? They cover it all here.
Writer Beware [sfwa.org] A resource to help writers avoid problems and pitfalls associated with scams and schemes. They offer free research for anyone with questions about agents and publishers.
Take Our Word [takeourword.com]- Ever wondered why people say, "I'll be there with bells on"? You can find out here. This is another site that allows you to roll around in words and phrases. Etymology can be fun.
That's about it for now. Anyone else have some resources to share?
I don't know any other resources, but I find that a good tool is comparing your own copy with similar copy is a great help, that way you quickly find out f.ex. what NOT to do ;).
Ivana
Thank you for sharing :)
Jen
Copy comparison is invaluable, especially if you know the copy is or was successful. I buy magazines just to read ad copy. ;)
>>most horrendous grammar imaginable
My daughter's teacher wrote me a note last week that read;
Shy's Latin has improved over the last semester but next year's course is much more difficult, please try and work with her over the summer.
I promptly wrote her back to inform her that I would try to work with Shy over the summer. It was an informal note and I should have let it slide, but this lady also teaches Honors English. She called shortly after she received the corrected note and we had a nice chat about prescriptivism. ;)
Now I am really hoping I haven't made any blatantly obvious grammatical errors in this post ;)
Even if you had, no one is allowed to call the grammar police into the forum.
I don't care that much when grammatical rules are broken as long as clarity is preserved. An informal tone sometimes requires forgetting that Strunk and White wrote a book of rules. Besides, sometimes you just need to end a sentence with a preposition, that's what they are there for. ;)
Well said.
What an excellent resource post, digitalghost. Every writer should flag this thread for reference.
>>grammar police
Them & the 'spelling cops' hang out at some other forum, I here. :)
I gave up correcting English when I moved to Lancashire and had it pointed out to me that 'incorrect' Lancashire dialect actually predates the so-called rules of English grammar.
