Essential Writers’ Reference Books

Your basic library will surely include the following essential writers’ reference books.

Make The Chicago Manual of Style and Writer’s Thesaurus your constant companions.

These titles should be available through your local library or bookstore. Of course, Amazon will carry them as well (and you can just click on any book’s image to go to amazon.com).

Chicago Manual of Style
An authoritative guide to writing style, grammar, and punctuation. No writer should be without this volume or another of equal reputation.

Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus. Compiled by Christine A. Lindberg. Oxford University Press. 2008. Another must-have for writers. Use this volume to find the right word and to find alternatives to words you may be overusing. Use it to eradicate lazy words in your writing.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. William Zinsser.
Harper Perennial. 2006. Readable guide to writing nonfiction. Many chapters are on topics such as interviews, writing a memoir, and humor writing, that may not be of interest to the business marketer. But this book is such a trove of writing wisdom it deserves to be read by everyone.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Lynne Truss. Gotham. 2008. Who knew punctuation could be fun? Who knew punctuation could be a matter of life and death? Now you must read this book to find out why!