The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White, may be the book most frequently assigned to high school and college classes. Features quotes such as: “vigorous writing is concise” and [...]
Issue: November 2004
Grammar Websites
Dictionary.com Every writer needs a dictionary – we just also happen to be fond of this online one. Fast and cheap.
Thesaurus.com is occasionally plagued by popup ads, but it’s the [...]
Market Lists
Duotrope’s Digest is a donation-supported brilliant market listing site that features them all, no matter how small. It also features the ability to track your submissions, information the site [...]
Old West
Virtual Library – American Indians is a list of Native American resources on the internet. The links are not particularly well organized, but they are kept relatively current.
The Alamo includes [...]
US Copyright Office
Artists (including writers) automatically receive a copyright on any work they produce. However, U.S. authors may gain certain advantages by registering their copyrights ($30 fee). The U.S. Copyright Office provides [...]
Drugs
For the social side of things, the United Nations website briefly covers the economic and social consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
For the wilder side of pharmaceuticals, Lycaeum, a [...]
Cultures and Countries
japan-guide.com’s Japanese History is a quick guide through virtually any period of time in Japan.
American West has some unusual links – there’s even a Native Languages page – but it’s [...]
Uncle Orson’s Writing Class
Uncle Orson’s Writing Class – Orson Scott Card has some unusual political and religious beliefs, but his views on writing are at the very least well-considered. Agree or disagree, each [...]
Subculture Slang
Slang Search: Crime offers a list of police terms.
Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade is the most comprehensive list of drug terms I ever expect to find. Over 2300 [...]
Historic Slang
Dictionary of Victorian London is much more than a dictionary; it is an extensive resource which includes dozens of period documents, including political cartoons and articles by Charles Dickens. [...]
Psychology
The Merck Manual focuses on personality disorders (including antisocial personality disorder, which has been called “psychopathy” and “sociopathy”). As a warning, personality disorders can be hard to correctly diagnose because [...]
Languages
And finally, RE offers a variety of articles on conlangs and advice on creating slang, dialect, or your own language: Michael A. Burstein’s “Writing the Language of the Future“; [...]
Writing Practice Books
The Midnight Disease is a book about the neurology of writing – from writer’s block to hypergraphia (the compulsion to write constantly). Far from a dry scholarly essay, the book [...]
Fashion
Lindy Hopping Although dedicated to dances from the Lindberg era, this menu item concentrates on men’s fashions that were changing as Edwardian etiquette faded away.
JJ Kent is a hidden offshoot [...]