Writing Reference Series #1

I started a new series of Wiley Wednesday posts on several writing-craft books. The first one, on 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk & White, is posted over here on the Writer's Retreat blog.

What is a Bestseller?

I'm over at the Writer's Retreat Blog today, pondering what it means to be a best-selling author.

Check it out.

Quick and Dirty

I really am trying to be better about my blogosphere participation, but heck - Thursday is just a busy part of the week for me.

So, here's a quick and dirty list of sites I find useful for writing.

1. Behind the Name - any name from almost any culture. You can search by name, language, sex, or meaning.

2. Intertran - a good online translator. Mind you, it's probably best to have a somewhat working understanding of the language before dropping big blocks of auto-translated text into your manuscript.

3. Thesarus.com - I live here. I don't care what Stephen King says.

4. deviantArt - Talk about inspiring. I'll admit it - I feed off of other people's creativity. You can get LOST in there . . .

6. Futureme.org - Not only is this useful for sending yourself reminders and or setting goals for yourself, but some of the stuff people put up there is good author fodder. I mean - it's life's drama. That's what this is about, right?

7. theromantic.com - A collection of famous love letters. *sigh*

8. brainyquote.com - I love quotes - ideas that have been immortalized.

9. poets.org - I usually start here and look for something to detail a google search. The point is that poetry is word-craft in it's highest form. What writer wouldn't want to immerse themselves in that?

10. etymonline.com - This is one of the coolest sites I've found. It's great for creating your own universe terminology based off of root and linked words. Good stuff.

11. Okay, I'll admit it. I rely on Wiki more than I should. But research is not the fun part of writing for me. I usually stay vague enough that Wiki suits, and make the rest up.

What do you mean that's only 11 items on my Thursday Thirteen? Um . . .

Google counts as two.