Building Your Writer's Library

So, you’ve decided you want to be a writer. Now you need to develop your writer's library. After all, books are a writer's tools of the trade.

First, you need a good selection of reference books. Whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction, you want your writing to look polished and professional when you submit it to an editor. If you don't have a current edition of the THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE, get one.
Strunk And White’s, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE; ROGET'S THESAURUS; WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY; plus PUNCTUATE IT RIGHT by Harry Shaw, and THE ONLY GRAMMAR BOOK YOU'LL EVER NEED by Susan Thurmare are all excellent resources for grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary.

Next, you'll want to have at least a few books dealing with the kinds of subjects you wish to write about. That is, if you’re writing about gardening, you need gardening books. If you’re writing about birds, you need books on birds, and so on. These will be handy references as you're writing and need to know a specific term or tidbit about the subject at hand.

Finally, if you’re going to write fiction (for either adults or children) several good references for this are: CREATING CHARACTER EMOTIONS by Ann Hood, WRITING DIALOGUE by Tom Chiarella, CHARACTERS AND VIEWPOINT by Orson Scott Card, and THE ART OF WRITING FOR CHILDREN by Connie Epstein, plus THE ABCs OF WRITING FOR CHILDREN, compiled by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff.

As your writing career progresses, you'll purchase additional books for your reference library. These books will inspire you to keep writing, help you write better, and provide you with information on topics you wish to write about. So, don't wait. Get your writer's library started.