What are your reference materials?

JoNightshade · Jul 27, 2007

I have a little collection of reference books that I keep on hand for writing.

- Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, 1957 edition. This is weird, but I MUST use an old dictionary. When there's a question about a word's meaning, I always go for the time-tested usage. I don't like all the new-fangled words they're adding these days.

- The American Medical Association Home Medical Encyclopedia - my tried and true reference for what to do in case of concussion, passing out, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc... No, these things do not normally happen to me while I'm writing, but I beat up my characters quite frequently. If I need something more in-depth, this reference will give me the terminology I need to Google.

- Current edition of Writers Market or Guide to Literary Agents or whatever. I like their handy section in the front for formatting and letter-writing.

- A sheet of paper. Okay, it's not a reference, but I need something to doodle or jot down notes on.

So what are your regularly used references? I have some backups like English-[insert other language] dictionaries, but they're not so often used.

xanthalanari · Jul 27, 2007

I have an ever-growing collection of reference books that I've picked up over the years. It includes:

- A collection of books of mythology, folktales and superstitions.
- Dorling Kindersley's "Weapon", a photgraphic catalogue of weapons throughout the ages.
- Various books about history.
- Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
- The Pirate Handbook.

- Doring Kindersley's "Earth" and "Universe" books.
- A pile of dictionaries.

What I really want to get is a good book about clothing through the ages, and also ones about warfare and possibly food. As I write fantasy, and love history, I think they'd really help. Although they'd probably keep me too busy reading to write anything...

Siddow · Jul 27, 2007

I like the Random House Word Menu.

maestrowork · Jul 27, 2007

I am cheap. I use the Internet.

Novelhistorian · Jul 27, 2007

My favorite is Webster's Ninth New Collegiate (now quite old), which lists the date a word entered the language (helpful if you write historical fiction). But I also have a Roget's, and I like the Random House Word Menu too. HarperCollins's American Slang dictionary has helped me time and again (though I often get lost in it and distracted from writing), and it too tells when a word or expression entered common usage. What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World is indispensable for knowing what the parts of everyday objects are called.

scarletpeaches · Jul 27, 2007

I don't use anything for reference. I write a sloppy first draft then do all the hard work on the edit.

maddythemad · Jul 27, 2007

My lap-top.

I can find anything-- character names, English-whatever dictionaries, and places to check all my facts-- on the web. And I can come to AW whenever I feel like ~~wasting my writing time~~ hanging out with other cool writers.

JoNightshade · Jul 27, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
I don't use anything for reference. I write a sloppy first draft then do all the hard work on the edit.

I can't do this, at least not to this degree. Example: Yesterday one of my characters was having an MRI. I realized I needed to know if someone else could be in the room, and if it was ALWAYS a no-no to take metal in or if it was only bad when the machine was running. If I didn't know these things, I could write the scene totally wrong! So I had to go and do a bunch of research about MRIs. (Incidentally, they are always magnetized. There is a hilarious YouTube video of some guys trying to extract an office chair that someone got too close to the machine.)

Mike Martyn · Jul 27, 2007

A thesorus which I seldom use, Stuck and whatsis (I forget the name. It's the classic style book)

Also a 1916 edition of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in case my characters want to talk in Shakesperian English. Also, it's useful if you want to invent alien religions.

Also a Masonic Handbook because it's a starting point for creating secret societies and because it's just plain wierd.

job · Jul 27, 2007

I think we're in the middle of a sea change in how folks look at reference materials.

I write historicals. so I have maybe thirty shelf-foot of primary reference materials.
These original materials are becoming available on the net. When Harry Smith's journal is on-line, I'm not going to own a paper copy. If Egan's Life in London pops up at Gutenberg, I'll sell or give away my century-old, painfully-tracked-down-and-purchased, paper copy.

More and more of my primary research materials can be accessed and searched (oh Lord -- love those search features) on line.
Talking primary sources ... ten years from now, I might have a tenth the books-on-shelfage I now carry.

That said ... there's another hundred shelf-foot of history and historical interpretation that ain't going nowhere. The internet is no substitute for good reference material.

Setting aside historical research ....
Looking at specifically writerly books ...?

OED, of course,
and Partridge,
NTCs, Cassell's and Green's Slang,
Wordsworth Proverbs,
Brewer's Phrase and Fable,
Random House, American Heritage and Webster's huge dicionaries,
Roget's .. and a Roget's from 1900,
The Regency Thesaurus,
CMoS,
MLA Handbook,
St. Martin's,
Rhinehart,
Huddleston's Grammar,
Shertzer's Elements of Grammar,
Walsh Plain English.

HoosierCowgirl · Jul 27, 2007

I have some books about the Civil War, Underground Railrod and that scintillating classic, "Development of American Agriculture." I also have the dictionary, AP Stylebook and the Internet which I take with a grain of salt somewhat.

Ann

Hillgate · Jul 27, 2007

Re reference works: read, read, read: know more about your subject than anyone else. Obviously, if it's fantasy you're writing, then dream, dream, dream...

Anonymisty · Jul 27, 2007

Mike Martyn said:
...the Anglican Book of Common Prayer ... it's useful if you want to invent alien religions.

I'm an Episcopalian (since I was 12) and lately I had a feeling our priest was from another planet ... this explains everything! *hee*

Namatu · Jul 27, 2007

I have a giant old dictionary published before WWII.
Roget's Thesaurus.
Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology.
The Internet.
My nonfiction library also comes in handy.

swvaughn · Jul 27, 2007

Quick Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-IV, a book detailing psychological disorders.

Also, the Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Bestselling Novel.

Okay, not really. But I do have -- and use -- the Diagnostic Criteria.

EriRae · Jul 27, 2007

Webster's unabridged that my brother bought me when I was 12...because it's one of the only gifts my brother ever gave me that he had to buy (usually gives me throwbacks from his clothing store) and because MS Word's dictionary doesn't recognize EVERY word in the English language (WTF? It's Microsoft).

The Great Gatsby. Yes, I use it as a reference; when writing the great American novel, reference the great American novel...

Mysteries of Pittsburgh. See above. It's The Great Gatsby, only newer.

Strunk and White, Elements of Style. Because I've got style, dammit. I've broken like a hundred rules in this post alone.

I also have a whole shelf of books that I suckered up and bought from Writer's Digest Book Club...yeah, I'm that person.

And I do have the Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing...bought that one at Borders. F-U WDBC, F-U. Got a nice little form letter rejection from Sherry Bykofsky (sp? one of the authors, who happens to be an agent) regarding my book. Big waste of time and money, since I now know that the query letter format from that book is WRONG. Do NOT waste time telling them how to market your book. Use that space trying to sell your book.

I've learned more from one month of AW than I did reading thru two year's worth of WDBC books. You peeps are the best reference ever

shakeysix · Jul 27, 2007

refs

i don't cook or sew but several of my characters do. i have an elderly mennonite friend who quilts so i ask her about patterns and stuff. i have a small collection of flea market cookbooks from the twenties to the seventies. one is the "Edgewater Hotel Salad Book" from 1937. i love it because it gives me a view of table settings and food terms as well as recipes. for example in 1937 an advocado was an alligator pear. since i have a character who is cooking in 1937 i can slip that one in. another book i have is "Country Kitchen' by della lutes. in that one asparagus is sparrow grass. it is a great book to read nevermind the recipes but it gives me an accurate picture of life in the 1900's. i have two characters who eloped in 1915. minta, the girl, was rich and had to learn to cook. i myself failed home ec and have never tried any thing but a waldorf salad from the books--screwed that puppy beyond belief. who knew you couldn't sub salted peanuts for walnuts? --s6

JoNightshade · Jul 27, 2007

::Jo makes a note to get herself some old cookbooks::

I ALWAYS have trouble thinking up what meals my characters are eating.

shakeysix · Jul 27, 2007

dandelion wine

did you ever read that one? surely you did. nightshade is a bradbury name. anyway i like the story where the grandmother comes to cook. and the recipe for dandelion wine is accurate. nasty stuff if you ask me--s6

JoNightshade · Jul 27, 2007

Dandelion Wine is one of my favorites. I detest alcohol, which is the only reason I haven't tried making the wine.

RLB · Jul 27, 2007

www.dictionary.com

It's always open when I'm writing. (it's also a thesaurus and encyclopedia)

And other sundry websites.

Danger Jane · Jul 27, 2007

Twenty year old falling apart dictionary that I keep right on top of...my Bible. lol.

alt+click on word: my thesaurus. And since I'm often too lazy to get up and read the dictionary for the meaning, it doubles as my dictionary. No internet on the laptop so it only gives me the synonyms, not the meanings.

http://www.theoi.com - everything the Greek scholars ever wrote about their mythology. Freaking awesome.

Various other sites that usually stem from a quick Wikipedia search (links at the bottom of the page ftw)

IrishScribbler · Jul 27, 2007

For my WIP, my nearby reference materials include:

The Gift of Stories: Practical and Spiritual Applications of Autobiography, Life Stories, and Personal Mythmaking by Robert Atkinson
Theories of Myth: an Overview by Dr. Robert Seufert (unpublished)
An Unquiet Mind: a Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
"Deirdre of the Sorrows" (Celtic myth)
Writing a Woman's Life by Carolyn G. Heilbrun

OddButInteresting · Jul 28, 2007

Reference materials... y'know, that's a bloody good idea!

I have quite a wealth of material here at the house, but I think I might go out today and purchase a wee bit more.

And, like many have said, the internet.

JEMcGee · Jul 28, 2007

News articles, science articles, a book on genetics, wikipedia *grin*, youtube *double grin*, personality type tests, the local farm down the road (there's a farm in one of the chapters), media and television like world wide wrestling and various people in my life that have inspired the characters.

What are your reference materials?

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