Update:

I edited the first post and linked to the three main posts in this topic (link, books and other)

Request:

If you people have any good books on writing, feel free to recommend. I think we need more books, and I am also interested in buying one :o Maybe one that deals with how to deliver descriptions and progress plot naturally XD

I will add amazon-reviews of these books and I will always pick the one that was voted most helpful. If there are summarys I will add them as well.

Okay here are some referenz-books for writers, they list facts on different topics especially for writers:

- Deadly Doses: A Writer´s Guide to Poisons, by Serita Deborah

Deadly Doses is an excellent beginning resource for the writer interested in using poison as an element within a story. It gives a brief history of poisoning, clearly divided chapters (plant based poisons, industrial, medical, etc.), and an easy to read format for each entry. Each poison is listed with a toxicity rating (6 being the highest), form, effects and symptoms, reaction time, antidotes and treatment, case histories, and notes of interest. Because the book has to cover so much, each entry is necessarilly brief and many less toxic forms of poison are glossed over or omitted. The author is quite open about this from the start.

In addition to the known poisons, the author provides a chapter on how to create an imaginary poison for the sake of your story. You may not find exactly what you need to kill your main victim with, but you will certainly come out of this book with a much stronger sense of how to do it and where to look, thanks to a very infomative biliography. As an unlooked for benefit, you may find yourself far more knowledgeable of dangerous substances in your own life, and, while one hopes such knowledge will never be necessary, knowing the syptoms and treatment of a common household poison may be useful (especially if you have children!)

! I would also recommend to use this mostly as basics, further research should be done !

- Armed & Dangerous: A Writer´s Guide to Weapons, by Michael Newton

! This book was pulblished in 1990, so some information might be out of date, however if your piece is a historical one you will be fine with it !

- The Writer´s Complete Crime Reference Book, by Martin Roth

Roth deals with all of the major issues involved in crimes. He has a comprehensive list on topics such as motives for homicides, frequently abused drugs, and firearms. The book explores the workings of the police, justice system and investigations. At the end of every chapter you will find a reference list for additional information on the topics covered. Note that this is a reference book--it is not meant to read cover to cover. Browse through the book, highlight, and reread the sections that interest you. This is an essential book for any mystery writer.

! Keep in mind that this book might be a bit outdated if you are writing about recent crimes. As the book is not covering the most modern techniques it should be used as an addition. However the covered parts are good !

And those are some guides to different genres:

- Hillary Waugh´s Guide to Mysteries & Mystery Writing, by Hillary Waugh

- How to Write & Sell True Crime, by Gary Provost

- How to Write Mysteries, by Shannon O Cork

- How to Write Romances, by Phyllis Taylor Pianka

- How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott

- How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, by J.N. Williamson

And some books about characters:

- Characters & Viewpoint, by Orson Scott

- Creating Characters: How To Build Story People, Dwight V. Swain

I will add the summarys/reviews/advice about the books but in the meantime you can look them up at amazon.

@Mods: please don´t mod my post or I won´t be able to add the stuff later.

Thats awesome :D

Could you give a summary for each of them? What you think about their usefulness if not a summary.

I havent read all yet but I can look up what amazon is saying about them.

Net have your books arrived yet?

Links, Stories, General.

http://www.will-ludwigsen.com/gym/index.htm

The Writing Gym:

The Writing Gym is a Web site where writers can read about the craft and business of writing in practical terms with opportunities to practice what they learn.

Too many sources provide writing advice in esoteric terms without anything concrete beneath it. Here, we try to give you solid advice and solid practice: only what you need and nothing more.

-above is taken from site-

The Writing Gym is a great website with articles on writing, such as improving prose, grammar technicalities, style, a section on 'business', and 'workouts' to refine any writer's craft.

Links, Stories, General.

http://www.anti-shurtugal.com/wordpress/?p=57

Helpful article on understanding the pros and cons of showing and telling.

-off-topic-

You can delete this if you want, but I just want to say that this thread is frikkin' awesome. If I find anything to contribute, I promise to put it up.

-off-topic-

Can’t tell you much about the books but printable worksheets might help you in writing.

Good news, I think I've found a pretty nice batch of links :D

Bad news...still not much useful for the poets. Except maybe this one;

Descriptive Words -- http://www.msgarrettonline.com/descripwords.html

Can be used by anyone who wants to make an imagery and couldn't find the words.

(I personally find it comforting to have those all laid out there so nicely and categorized too XD Link with major potential!)

PlotBoiler -- http://thebradness.com/plotboiler/

Can't think of anything? Need a bit of inspiration? Try using this generator. At least you'll be amused.

(This is what I got: A soldier who has the nickname "Marbles", a lawyer who has a tattered journal and clogs, a politician who has a mysterious past, and a pirate who has a kindness toward animals and a sack of stolen money go on a suicide mission, play baseball, and practice speaking without prepositions in this erotic adventure set in a downtown deli, a secluded area of the beach, a tent, and a thrift store.

What the hell, right? XD But in a good way)

Writing Realistic Injuries by Leia Fee -- http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/%7Eleiafee/ramblings/realistic_injuries.htm

As an author it is your DUTY to make your characters suffer. Some authors make them suffer physically. Here's some tips on how to keep it real. From fainting to burns.

(if the link doesn't work, google the title!)

A Novel Writing Handout -- http://silveragebooks.myby.co.uk/mag/ns/issues/NS2007.pdf

It's a really extensive worksheet that you could pick out certain parts you want to use or print out the whole thing. It's useful either way. Makes you think about some issues.

(I experienced a weakness for the Random Character Generator on page 10. I definitely want to try that one out.)

Workshops -- http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/

Takes up most aspects of writing a story, I think.

---

I will edit in these later into the first post. Gonna go back and study now.

Hope these are helpful!

Edit: Edited into the post now. The descriptive word thing is in BOTH writing and poetry section. Ok, that's all.

I have a few helpful links that I use.

http://www.elfwood.com/farp/writing.html This one is just the overview of all the articles on writing. There are articles written on characters, settings, poetry, writing fantasy, etc., etc.

http://www.watt-evans.com/soyouwanttobeawriter1.html This one I accidentally stumbled upon. It focuses more on getting published and the like, but someone might find it useful. :)

http://news.deviantart.com/article/81533/ Although I'm sure most people hanging out on this forum know how to avoid a Mary-Sue, I figure I might as well give you the link anyways...

I'm a little hesitant about recommending this next one as I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but I have been told to read it by a published author, so I figure it can't be that bad...So, the book Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass might be a good one to put on the list.

If I find any other good ones, I'll post those too.

Horror Writers Association: Articles - http://www.horror.org/writetips.htm

The whole site is useful I presume but this particular link features writing tips to horror writers. Just scroll past the book ad.

Fictionpress and its writers have been reviewed at Ranting Raving Reviews.

http://rrreviewer.livejournal.com/875.html?mode=reply

Advice for action stories from the hand of one of the pulp writer's god, Lester "Doc Savage" Dent, enjoy the pulpy wisdom:

http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html

for what it's worth...

http://www.thenamegenerator.com/

names the from the Census Bureau, apparently. The place to find your John Doe.

And I know langugageisavirus has already been linked, but I want to specifically mention the site's "Character Name Database"

http://www.languageisavirus.com/namedatabase/db.cgi?db=default&uid=&view_search=1

it's pretty handy.

The Elements of Style by E.B. White and William Strunk Jr.

Amazon.com link: http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X

online text: http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html

Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.

This is a very helpful little book. Most of it, as mentioned in the summary above, is about grammar rules and such, and the bulk of the useful part of the book deals with writing with style. Not to mention it's short, to the point, and easy to understand. A definite must have for those students serious about writing!

I think people have enough name sites but I have one to mention because I find it reliable:

http://www.meaning-of-names.com/

You can find all sorts of names there.

I can't even begin to say how much this forum is helping me, all sorts of great sites and other subjects I never quite thought of.

Oh! Anyone ever heard of How to write Damn Good Fiction: Advanced Techniques in Dramatic Storytelling? It's by James N. Frey.

I'm not 'advanced' but this is a good read either way for writers. For me it's kind of inspirational.

Links - general

50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills -- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/28/50-free-resources-that-will-improve-your-writing-skills/

As the title says. It has different categories it brings up, and overall it seems like a good collection.

for my canadian friends - writing contest

CBC Literary Awards, 1st prize is $6000 :D

http://www.radio-canada.ca/prixlitteraires/english/index.shtml

Writing Exercise/General

(could be used for those who write poetry as well, I reckon)

One Word - http://www.oneword.com/

A small little writing exercise to help you get going. You get one word and 60 seconds to write about it.

I thought this to be rather useful:

http://mae-jay.deviantart.com/art/Writing-Tips-Organisation-133152185

A writing steps/organization guide.

Temptation Blocker - http://sourceforge.net/projects/temptblocker/

Temptation Blocker is a program that lets you lock yourself out of specific applications for a specified period of time. A window displays how much time remains. In order to unblock a program you must enter a 32 character string as a disincentive.

[only for windows]

-

Basically, this removes the temptation of procrastinating, as it is too tedious to unlock.

I know lotsa people here in RG are doing Nanowrimo this month, so I figured this would help them alot. I hope you guys win!

Also this could be used outside of Nanowrimo, of course :p

--Off Topic--

The geocities websites don't work: Yahoo took down the website builder.

--End Off Topic--

These are really useful websites, thanks! (I don't know if anyone has already mentioned it, but there are a few articles on cracked.com that are useful. I'll try to find them and post them here if no one has already.)

I found a website wiht articles about how to write a goood horror story: character development, plots, clichés to avoid.

http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles.html

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