These guides will help you find your way through the jungle of spellings, meanings, principles, grammar, punctuation, abbreviations, and writing advice.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White - the little bible, used first in classes by William Strunk and later published and added to by E.B. White, who was a student of Strunk. A must-have for all writers. The Elements of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style - the writing bible for all manuscripts, stories, essays, articles, and just about everything we write. The Chicago Manual of Style
The Associated Press Stylebook - used mostly for journalism, but very useful for web content. AP Stylebook
The MLA Style Guide - used for research, sciences, and scholarly publications. MLA Style
On Writing Well by William Zinsser - a utterly useful and hilarious guide to improve your non-ficiton writing. Fiction writers can do nothing but benefit from his expertise, as well. Zinsser tackles just about every aspect of your writing with wit and insight. I love this book.
Essentials of English by Hopper, Gale, and Foote - An excellent dictionary-like reference and resource for grammar, usage, punctuation, and writing.
The Dimwit’s Dictionary by Robert Hartwell Fiske - a reference to leap the hurdle of overused words, phrases, cliche’s, and tired language which offers alternatives to use or to help you crawl out of your cage and spur your imagination.
