Resources
We talk about a lot of books and sites on this blog. I’ve collected here the resources I use most often or talk about on The Writing Resource.
Dictionaries
Thesauri
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Usage Guides
Style Guides
Many style guides also have online versions, which may require a paid membership to use. Chicago, for example, charges to access the guide online. However, you can search the online index for location and go to the information in your hard copy. You can also often search a Q & A (or Ask the Editor) and submit questions yourself. Very handy.
Grammar Help
Writing Advice
- The Writer Magazine
- New Hampshire Writers’ Project (Disclosure: NHWP is a client and I am a member of the group.)
Books I’ve Reviewed
This list is a work in progress. Check back often! Send me your favorite resources with a brief explanation why to see your favorites listed here.
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Hi Ms. Brenner.
I follow the British English. Are these books valid equally for the Americans and the Britishers?
I mean I have heard people say that the Oxford dictionary is for the Britishers and Webster is for the Americans. But I have observed in both these dictionaries that they contain both American and British spellings whenever there is a discrepancy. So I’m a bit confused.
Similarly people say that ‘The Chicago Manual of Style’ is for the Americans and Britishers should follow something like the ‘Oxford Manual of Style’ or ‘Hart’s Rules’. Are such statements true? Could you please explain?
Farhan, most of the resources on this page are for American English. Oxford publishes both British English and American English dictionaries. Good dictionary choices for British English include the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the Collins English Dictionary, and Macmillan English Dictionary.
The Chicago Manual of Style is an American stylebook, though it could be adapted for British English use (a big drawback would be the punctuation rules would vary quite a bit). So, yes, The Oxford Style Manual and The New Hart’s Rules would be better choices.
Thank you so much for replying. It helped a lot. But may I trouble you with a few more questions?
1) I live in India and the school to which I went didn’t teach us much grammar. Our teachers taught the English language by making us read a lot of quality English prose and poetry, but no grammar. Now, I’m working on a novel and I want no mistakes to crop in. So I want to read a grammar book, which teaches British grammar in simple English. Could you please make a suggestion?
2) Professor Lynch says that; “There ain’t a rule in the language what can’t be broke.”
- http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/r.html#rules
So if all the rules of grammar can be broken and will still be considered as correct English, then what is the use of learning grammar rules? Shouldn’t it suffice if a person (like me) has only a working knowledge of English?
3) From the few pages available for viewing on Amazon, I liked ‘The Grammar Devotional’ very much but alas it is written by an American. Do you think that the said book, or any other good American English book can help us in any way who follow the British English?