Welcome to
Writing Central!
(Well, not really, but...)
I decided to
move everything related to writing to its own section - 1. in order to
better keep track of it all, and 2. to make it easier for you to find
what
you need. If you can think of anything else that needs to be
here,
or that you'd like to see in this section, as always, email Kat.
Today, on your
self-guided tour of our facility, you will first notice the Short
Message from yours
truly.
After perusing said document, you may want to take notice of the Disclaimers.
When you're
ready to try your hand at the craft (or perhaps you already have?) you
may first choose to contact someone to help you off of our Beta-Reader
Ring. At this
time,
please note our Submission
Guidelines and Rating
Sytem before sending any
work
to be published.
One final note.
As webmistress of this Treasury, I read many stories. And I feel
compelled to include a comment on Plagiarism. As I state in the Submission
Guidelines (which, unfortunately, I don't think many people read,
though
it would save me answering a LOT
of questions)
I WILL NOT
TOLERATE PLAGIARISM HERE.
The Merriam-Webster
Online Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com:80/home.htm) defines Plagiarize
as:
to steal
and pass off (the ideas or words of another)as one's own : use
(another's production) without crediting the source
intransitive senses : to commit literary theft : present as new andoriginal
an idea or product derived from an existing source.
I think that's
pretty clear. However, for those still uncertain:
The Georgetown
University Honor Council
(http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html)
says thus:
Plagiarism
is defined by the Honor Council document as "the act of passingoff as
one's
own the ideas or writings of another." In the Appendix to theHonor
Council
pamphlet called "Acknowledging the Work of Others" (which is used by
permission
of Cornell University), three simple conventions are presented
for when you must provide a reference:
1. If
you use someone else's ideas, you should cite the source.
2.
If the way in which you are using the source is unclear, make itclear.
3.
If you received specific help from someone in writing the paper,acknowledge
it.
For more complete
information on references and citing sources, please visit their
website,
Georgetown University Honor Council Web Site. What Is
Plagiarism?
(http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html)
Thank you for
your attention and have a safe flight of fancy!
Recommended
Reading
1. Strunk
&
White's "Elements of Style" - An indispensable guide. It should
be
on every aspiring writer's desk.
2. Rodale's
Synonym Finder. This is a fabulous thing to have around when you're
searching
for alternative phrasings.
3.
"Scene
of the Crime, a writer's guide to crime-scene investigations" by Anne
Wingate
(Writer's Digest Books, 1992) And actually, Writer's Digest puts
out a number of books on writing (including a number of reference books
on criminal procedure, poisons, etc.) that can be useful if you're
writing
fanfic. They're a bit expensive, but public libraries often have a few
copies.
5.
"Self-Editing
for Fiction Writers" by Renni Brown and Dave King - I've personally
found
this one to be very helpful. A practical, no-nonsense book which
explains clearly chapter-by-chapter how to edit and improve prose,
dialogue,
setting, and just about everything you can think of in fiction.
Writer's
Resource Links:
America's
Best Karate -
Under construction right now, but it still has some great info about
the
Martial Arts.
Atlanta
Chapter Sisters in Crime -
List
of web based crime writing resources.
Black
Belt Magazine's Martial Arts Dictionary-
For those writer's (like me) who have trouble with all those Martial
Arts
terms, look them up here.
Board
of Private Investigators-
Texas
Commission on Private Security home page.
Citizens
Against Bad Slash - While I'm
not a slash aficionado, nor do I post any here, this site has many good
writing tips which can be applied to any genre. Be forewarned,
though
- some of the language is a bit rough.
Corvettes
- Roadsters.com -
Want history and information about that machine that Trent
drives?
Look here.
Dallas
City Guide -
Lots of links and information about our boy's home town.
Funk
and Wagnall's -
Multimedia online encyclopedia
Hand
Book of Texas Online -
Multidisciplinary
encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture.
Martialinfo-
Great, comprehensive site on all forms of Martial Arts. History,
dictionary of terms, store, etc.!
Purdue
Online Writing Lab -
This site has basic information on writing (planning, revising, genre,
etc), sentence construction, punctuation, and spelling.
Private
Investigator, Houston Texas-
Check
out what services are offered by a real , Texas PI!
State
of Texas Web Site -
The name says it all.
TALI-
Texas Association of Licensed Investigators
WordWeave
Creative Writing Web -
Lots of resources for creative writing. Check out their workshops.
Writer's
Digest - The insider's guide
to
writing life.
