The Joy of Serendipitous Distribution.

Some years ago, I encountered a young Chinese woman, Helen, online. I can’t now remember how it came about, but it was probably a result of my series of ‘Right Word’ posts on the blog. Anyway, Helen asked if I could help with her English, as she wanted to learn the language to a better …

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Using Editing Software?

Word cloud created through wordart.com How do you organise your own editing of your creative writing? You’ll find an account of my latest WIP journey here to show how I go about it. The MS stood at 79,079 words at the end of the edit referred to in that post. I then began the penultimate …

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Perils of the Pantster.

My desk during editing. If you write by the seat of your pants, you’re a pantster, as opposed to those who write a story from a structured plan; they’re plotters. Both methods have upsides and downsides, and both have devotees, some of whom can be unnecessarily scathing of those in the opposite camp. I’ve been …

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Finding the Write #Words? Last in the Series.

Some of the books on the list. Each week since October 2019 I’ve been posting ‘reviews’ of books on my shelves that deal with the English language, its use, and the opportunities to find and employ different words to express yourself in speech and/or writing. The complete list of books is listed below with link …

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Finding the Write #Words? No. 38: Usage and Abusage

Completing the description of books on words and the English language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 38: Usage and Abusage Paperback, 380 pages. Published in 1947 by Hamish Hamilton and reprinted many times. I own the 1978 Penguin edition, which I bought for the princely sum of £1.10. There’s a …

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Finding the Write #Words? No. 37: The Synonym Finder

Continuing the description of books on words and the English language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 37: The Synonym Finder Hardback, 1355 pages. Published in 1979 by Rodale Press, which is the edition I own. I don’t recall what I paid for it, as it was part of a collection …

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Finding the Write #Words? No. 36: The Slang Thesaurus

Continuing the description of books on words and the English language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 36: The Slang Thesaurus Hardback, 280 pages. Published in 1986 by Elm Tree Books/Hamish Hamilton Ltd, which is the edition I own. I can’t now recall what it cost me. The 1985 edition is …

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The Writer’s Body Lexicon, by Kathy Steinemann: #BookReview.

629 pages Editing Reference/Writing Reference. Subtitled ‘Body Parts, Actions, and Expressions’ this book was written by the author in response to requests from followers of her blog, where she features articles about language use and its improvement of the skillsets available to writers. Under the introductive ‘Read This First’ section, she explains how chapters are …

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Finding the Write #Words? No. 35: The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary

Continuing the description of books on words and the English language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 35: The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary Paperback, 530 pages. Published in 1985 by Viking and, in the same year, by Penguin Books, and reprinted in 1986, which is the edition I own. It cost me …

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Finding the Write #Words? No. 34: The Oxford Spelling Dictionary

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 34: The Oxford Spelling Dictionary Hardback, 299 pages. Published in 1986 by Oxford University Press, I own a BCA edition published in 1987, which I bought as part of a bundle offered by a book club, …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 33: The Oxford Manual of Style

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 33: The Oxford Manual of Style Paperback, 1033 pages. Published in 2002 by Oxford University Press, this is the edition I own. I bought it as part of a bundle offered by a book club, so …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 32: The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 32: The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors Hardback, 448 pages. Published in 1981 by Oxford University Press. There was a revision in 2000, producing a second edition, with 416 pages. A used copy of that …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 31: The Little Red Writing Book

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 31: The Little Red Writing Book Paperback, 160 pages. Published in 2007 by Writer’s Digest Books. This is the edition I own and I can’t recall what I paid for it. You can buy it new …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 30: The Last Word

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 30: The Last Word. Hardback, 312 pages. Published in 2009 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. This is the edition I own and I can’t recall what I paid for it, because it was one of a bundle …

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Finding the #Write #Words? Post 29: The Grouchy Grammarian

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 29: The Grouchy Grammarian Paperback, 186 pages. Published in 2003 by BCA. This is the edition I own and appears to be the current one. You can buy it new in paperback for £9.95, Used from …

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