People always talk about writing books and craft books, but you know what they never talk about - the Tool books. The ones you must have if you're a writer. I have two books that fall firmly into the Tool category.
1. My dictionary. It's a really good dictionary because it has both British English and American English spellings, very necessary for me as I still occasionally get things mixed up between the two. It also has entries for common misspellings, so if you look up something with two 'l's' instead of one, it'll direct you to the right one.
There's a really cool story behind this dictionary. It was the first prize in the first ever short story contest I ever won. I was giddy that day and I still get giddy when I think about it.
2. My Synonym Finder a.k.a. my thesaurus. I have the paperback version of the one by Rodale and this thing is HUGE. I love it. Seriously. This also has a cool story behind it - I bought it at a Borders bookstore on my first trip to the States, when I also attended my first ever RWA conference. Me and Fiona Brand nabbed the last two in the store.
I shipped these two books to Japan three years ago and they'll be going back home with me. Because there are some books that you really, really can't do without.
If we head off the subject of books, other things that fall into the Tools category for me include my laptop, my notebook and a steady supply of pens, among other things. What are some tools you can't do without?
3 comments :
Now my computer, paper, pen, and thumbdrive. I even have my thesaraus and dictionary on computer. When I am writing and I can't find or remember the right word... VIOLA! on my screen. Having an electronic dictionary is such a time saver. LOl
Hi Cynthia - it's weird, I have the computer thesaurus and spellcheck as well and they're wonderful, but I just like being able to flip through the book as well, especially when I'm editing a hardcopy document. :)
LOL - Index cards and a pen. I have them stashed everywhere so I can write down ideas or scenes as they come to mind.
Beyond that, definitely headphones for my hubby. He's a big gamer and I don't focus well in lots of noise. The sweet man wears headphones to hear his game so I can work on my WIP.
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