I usually research before I write. Why?
Well, let’s just say I’m smart enough to know when I’m not smart enough
to write about something with just the ideas floating around in my head. Someday I may be an expert on something – but
today is not that day. Tomorrow’s not
looking so good, either.
When I started my writing for fun and not very much profit
28 years ago, I was advised that every writer should have the following books
on their bookshelves. I dutifully bought
them.
1. A good
dictionary. I have Merriam-Webster,
copyright 1974.
2. Roget’s
Thesaurus. My copy is copyright 1980.
3. Bartlett’s
Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett, original copyright date 1882. My copy is copyright 1980.
Fast forward 28 years and you’ll find these books collecting
dust on a bookshelf in my husband’s office – I don’t even use them enough to
justify moving them to my office.
Today, there are several online dictionaries – with the
benefit of containing words that no one had even thought to have heard of in
the 1980s. Online dictionaries contain
new words such as internet, webcast, cell phone and laptop, not to mention
supermom and superglue. And they
contain old words with new meanings such as mouse, virus, blackberry and
tablet.
Today, most word processing software has a built-in
thesaurus. So if I’m writing along and
can’t think of the word I want, I just put in a similar word that I know I
don’t want, and click on “Synonyms.”
Presto! The software gives me a
choice of half a dozen words that I could use in its place.
And while I still refer to Bartlett’s from time to time –
particularly if I’m looking for something Shakespearean – I have to go to another source to find more
recent quotes.
My favorite other source, of course, is the World Wide
Web. Search engines can do marvelous
things. Some of these, such as Goodsearch, even contribute to charity
for each search. Seriously. You sign up, choose your charity, and
Goodsearch donates a penny a search.
Doesn't sound like much, but it all adds up.
With the ease of use and wealth of information comes a
price, however. As a user of the
internet, I have to consider that not all sources are created equally, and that
misinformation is as easy to find as true information. Caveat emptor.
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