My advice to all new writers
as you embark on your literary journey is these three things: get a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a Chicago
Style Manual. These tools are
essential elements for a writer and you'll find that writing will be a lot
easier.
Whatever word-processing
application you use, i.e., WordPerfect or Word, they are equipped with the
ability to spell check a word or provide a synonym. However, you can't rely solely on it because
spell-checker will not be able to determine if you've used the correct spelling
of a word that sounds the same. The
Chicago Style Manual provides guidance for the correct usage of punctuation and
other items an editor would look for.
It is also a good idea to
establish a writing library - self-help books on the how-to's of writing. Several books to get you started and some of
my personal favorites are The First Five
Pages by Noah Lukeman; Beginnings,
Middle and Ends by Nancy Kress; and Writing
Dialogue by Tom Chiarella. You'll
find these very helpful. You might want
to add some books on how to write fiction, non-fiction, and books that pertain
to the genre you're writing in. Genre is
the type or category of literature to include romance, sci-fi, mystery,
biography, erotic or just mainstream fiction.
Well I hope this gets you
started. Remember to write every day to
get you in the habit of doing it. And if
you write every day, in 365 days, you'll more than likely turn out that best-seller
you always talked about writing. Happy
writing!
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