SOFTWARE

Oxford Dictionary

The 5 most important writing resources

This is a general list of useful resources for technical writers, which may also be helpful to other writers and communicators. I’m not necessarily advocating any particular products, but the examples are the products I use myself.

1. Editor or Peer reviewer

All the books I mention below are of entirely no use if not opened and read so the contents can be put into practice. I am now a strong proponent of using peer reviews and having an editor go over your work—preferably both. There’s no substitute for having an editor set you straight when you make an error; you’ll remember the lesson.

At the same time, an editor or peer reviewer will comment on inconsistencies, awkward structure, spelling mistakes, all of the things that the following books will do for you. Another person has a significantly better perspective on the quality of your writing than you do.

2. Dictionary

As with an editor or peer reviewer, I don’t think I can stress enough the importance of a good dictionary. A writer must produce correct spelling, grammar and usage and a good dictionary provides all of these.

I will also stress the importance of always using the same dictionary. By using the same dictionary for all your writing, your writing will be much more consistent. And if you’re writing for a client, you can always defend your writing decisions by referring to your chosen dictionary.

Being in Canada, I use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, but the Oxford Dictionary of English is also available as an excellent authority of the English language.

3. Style guide

A style guide is another resource of which I cannot stress the importance enough. Whether you’re using Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style, The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 or the Canadian Press Stylebook, you can ensure consistency in your writing. This works in your favour again by making it easier to defend your writing decisions.

Specifically for technical applications, I use the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (sorry, this links to the second edition, and I would definitely recommend the third edition). This is an excellent guide for writing documentation and communication for software applications.

I also recommend creating a personal style guide.  While writing, make notes about preferred words, terms and other usage. Are you going to use am and pm, a.m. and p.m. or a 24-hour system (08:00, 20:00)? How are you going to write time zones? How do you handle abbreviations? While making your writing more consistent, it also removes the need to make these kinds of decisions on the fly.

4. Usage guide

While a usage guide can often be replaced by a dictionary and style guide, it helps to make decisions about usage in new situations, or confirm usage in awkward situations.

While I’ve heard some comments against it, I prefer Fowler’s Modern English Usage. I’ve managed to resolve a number of usage conflicts using Fowler’s; for example, whether I can use nor without having previously used neither (yes, I can).

5. Thesaurus

I do not to use a thesaurus. To quote Stephen King:

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
— Stephen King, “Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully - in Ten Minutes”, 1988

In fact, I find that repeating words, while sounding obviously repetitive, is easier for a reader to understand and really drives home a point. As well, good keywords in website content should be repeated as much as is reasonably possible.

Conclusion

To conclude, you see that there aren’t many resources, and there shouldn’t be. The more you have to make reference to a book, guide or even your own notes, you slow down your writing. And, if you’re like me, you lose your train of thought and your writing suffers. You don’t have to use (or even like) the suggestions I’ve made, but sticking to specific resources will ensure your writing is consistent and any decisions can be defended.

About the Author

Craig McNaughton is a highly proficient technical writer and web developer based in Saskatoon. He completed his technical writing certificate program at Humber College in Toronto, graduating magna cum laude. You can find him blogging at The Technical Writer Blog or freelancing at craigmcnaughton.ca.

How do I get a word into the Oxford Dictionary?

I want to create a new word, and would like it to be recognised as a word, and eventually be entered in the Dictionary.

you need to use it in a book... if some other writers use it in their books as well, then you have more chances of seeing it in a dictionary one day.

having it in newspapers can help too...

ENGL 2321 Research Tutorial: Oxford English Dictionary (MCC Library)