machievelli and I talk a lot about spelling, punctuation, and grammar. That's not because we're trying to be mean or snobby. It's because problems with spelling and punctuation make it much harder for people to read and understand your fics. If we have trouble understanding what you're trying to say, we can't enjoy your writing. We want you to make your story the very best you can. So, I thought I'd post some resources for everyone.

How often do I use a dictionary and thesaurus? Every time I sit down to write. The thesaurus in particular gives me alternatives so I don't repeat words. I have both references sitting on my bedside table. I also use some online resources if I'm just not finding what I want in the books I already have. If I don't find something I like at one site, I'll go to another. Sometimes entries are a bit different on the different sites.
Here are some websites for dictionaries and thesauri:

The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus (http://www.m-w.com/)
Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/)
Thesaurus.com (http://thesaurus.reference.com/)
Roget's Thesaurus Online-Yahoo! Education (http://education.yahoo.com/reference/thesaurus/)
The Free Dictionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/)
PM Hallucination and/or igyman--just kidding!!! :)

Quotation sources--while you wouldn't necessarily want to quote Sir Winston Churchill in your fic, you might get some dialogue ideas from famous quotes. I think they're also fun to read, but then again you all know I'm a little weird, so what can I say. :)

Bartlett's Quotations (http://www.bartleby.com/100/)
Quoteland.com (http://www.quoteland.com/)
Creative Quotations (http://creativequotations.com/)
Quotations Home Page (http://www.theotherpages.org/quote.html)


Where do you go to find out about punctuation and grammar? Well, here are some helpful sites:
LEO Write Place Catalogue (http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html#gram)
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant (http://www.powa.org/)
Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/)
11 Rules of Writing (http://www.junketstudies.com/rulesofw/)
Online English Grammar (http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm)
A Concise Guide to Grammar and Style (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001600.html)

If you've found useful grammar, punctuation, or spelling resources, feel free to post them here.

Good Thread Jae. I admit that some Fics are hard to read with bad grammar etc. I agree with both you and mach. The one Fic I have trouble reading sometimes is connor's. He has a great story, but sometimes his spelling and grammar can put me off. Nonetheless I still read it.

Consider letting connor knowing that in one of his threads. :) --Jae

Those links look good too.

actually, Jae, we have Hall for any assistance we may need :D

on a more serious note, those links are useful. i could use the theasaurus for any new words i may need. thanks for them, Jae :)

Heh, I changed the dictionary section accordingly. :D

If you all find any good sites, I'll add the urls to the list above (with credit to whoever finds them) so that everything's in one place and people don't have to search through the thread to find the additional links. Don't go nuts though--I'm not trying to make this an exhaustive list of sites. I just cited some of the most common ones.
If you google 'thesaurus', 'dictionary', and 'quotations', you'll get pages of links to different sites.

RC, I don't know what I'd do without a thesaurus. It is such a tremendous help for creative writing because it provides alternative words that mean very much the same but evoke different feelings or images.

actually, Jae, we have Hall for any assistance we may need. :D

And me. :D

PM Hallucination and/or igyman--just kidding!!!

Sure, why not? But I doubt our services will be needed after all those dictionary links. :)

I can help out too if anyone needs a beta reader, or even just some advice! :)

Http://www.answers.com) is pretty good
But http://www.answers.com/topic/answertips) is awesome!
I use Answertips all the time by holding in the ALT key, while clicking the word I wish to look up.

If you've found useful grammar, punctuation, or spelling resources, feel free to post them here.

Well, in that case, I found that SpellCheck.Net (http://www.spellcheck.net) is a cool online spelling checker. Whether one needs to see if a single word is spelled correctly or if a body of text (Up to 20,000 characters) is spelled correctly.