Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [resources]

Resources that one may wish to ask about on Writing include style guides, instruction manuals, podcasts, blogs, articles, and other means by which experts provide writing information.

This tag should be used for questions about resources such as style guides, instruction manuals, podcasts, blogs, articles, and other means by which experts provide writing information.

You should consider further tagging your question with tags that can clarify what medium and what style you are looking for. For example: or for possible tags concerning the medium, and or for possible tags concerning the style.

240 questions
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17 answers

Is Wikipedia Trustworthy?

So in elementary school, I was told not to use Wikipedia too much because you can't trust what they write. So then for all the projects, I used the Canadian Encyclopedia, but then now, I really would like to know why not to use Wikipedia. The only…
iiRosie1
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What are good reads about writing?

What do you recommend as reading material to improve writing for beginners? If one recommendation is put per answer and can be voted separately a good list of resources should build up.
Mnementh
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31
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10 answers

What are some online guides for starting writers?

I've always wanted to start writing (in a totally amateur way), but whenever I want to start something I instantly get blocked having a lot of questions and doubts. Are there some resources on how to start becoming a writer? I'm thinking something…
juan
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29
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7 answers

Where can I find resources for bedtime story plots?

For past ten months, my wife and I have been telling bedtime stories of our own making to our older daughter (who recently turned 4). We do it on alternate evenings. The stories have a nearly-constant set of characters who face various situations…
Boris Bukh
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26
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2 answers

What are widely-used UK-English style guides?

In the UK, what are the equivalents to Chicago Manual of Style, the Associated Press style guide, Yahoo, APA, MLA, etc? Most importantly, what are their intended audiences? (AP is used for journalists, Yahoo for the web, APA for academia, et…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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25
votes
7 answers

What are the most common style manuals?

From Wikipedia: A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field. The implementation of a style guide provides…
Josh Leitzel
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22
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9 answers

How can I improve my sentence construction or flow in general writing?

Can anyone suggest resources or techniques I can use to improve my sentence construction when writing? I am a native English speaker and fairly well educated, but confess I didn't pay much attention in English class at school, something that's…
Will Appleby
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20
votes
4 answers

Resources about different people types?

I'm native German, but trying to write in English for various reasons. One of the big points in a story is to keep the characters very distinct from each other, and that requires some knowledge about the culture. As said, I'm native German, so it's…
Michael Stum
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19
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9 answers

Resources on plotting mystery stories

I'm looking for books, essays and articles on plotting mystery/detective/investigation stories (and novels). The type of story I'm aiming for is in the vein of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, or Asimov's Robots/Elijah Baley novels. It seems to me…
Standback
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18
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13 answers

Resources for character development

I'm weak at building characters. What resources are there to create rich characters? I'm thinking beyond name generators: Quirks, biography, diseases like allergies, hobbies and jobs, wealth, omens, ...
Aaron Digulla
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16
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11 answers

What is the effect on the young reader when there is no "Happy Ending" in a story for children?

It is a common practice for a story for children to have a happy ending. Would it be considered inappropriate and disappointing for the young reader if his hero/heroine will suffer a horrible tragedy in the end? Or maybe not a horrible tragedy, but…
Axarydax
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5 answers

Where can I find sales numbers for books?

I'm a writer, working on a non-fiction book proposal. Finding public, free sales numbers for comparable titles is nearly impossible. BookScan is a subscriber service run by Nielsen. "Above the Treeline" is a subscriber service that collects sales…
user1135
15
votes
10 answers

Is it overkill to follow style-guides for technical writing?

I currently work for an engineering company as an electrical engineer. A good chunk of my time is spent writing testing reports or instruction documents. Currently my company doesn't have any sort of guidelines specifying how to format documents,…
Adam
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15
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2 answers

What needs to be included in a corporate style guide?

What kinds of things need to be included in a corporate style guide that can't already be found in S&W, AP, Chicago Style, etc?
dddppp
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15
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5 answers

Writers' Communities?

I don't mean writers' circles, or "auditioning sites", although some of these have forums tacked on as a by the by. Usually places to talk about the beardy philosophy of writing are moribund places as many writers are just not joiners. Does anyone…
One Monkey
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