“No editor is going to turn a lamely-written piece into golden prose.”

PART 3: TOOLS OF THE TRADE (2)

So what are a writer's tools? His saw, hammer, screwdriver and nails?

A writer's main tools are his references. A good dictionary, a thesaurus, and ideally, a good grammar and usage guide.

Hang on, someone mutters. I can't afford to go buying all those books— they're expensive!

True, if you buy them new, they are. The question is, how serious are you about writing? You wouldn't expect to make a garden without spade or fork— or even a lawnmower— or cook without a stove. If you want to do something properly, you need your tools.

Hang on again. Isn't that what an editor is for?

Well, yes... and no. Yes, an editor is there to pick up your mistakes, and even an excellent writer will make some. (This is why you must have someone else read over your work. Two— or more— heads are always better than one.)

But the 'no' part of this answer is, that no editor is going to turn a lamely-written piece into golden prose. Not unless they rewrite it completely, and then they are a ghost-writer, not an editor. Editing out your mistakes may make your piece acceptable; it won't turn you into a good writer.

Even possessing your reference books isn't enough. After all, you can't be looking up every word and construction you use; the books are for when you aren't sure, want to check something (especially when an editor pulls you up over it!).

Your most important tool is basic knowledge. To write to your best ability, you need to know how the language works. You also need to know what is generally considered acceptable usage, and what isn't. Then, if you decide to go against it, you'll at least know what you're doing— I'll cover some of these cases in future articles.

One further word on references: they don't have to be expensive. I bought mine at a time when I had next to no money, and all of them were either second-hand or on book-club discounts. If you really can't afford books of your own, public libraries will have them (it's just so much more convenient having them at home.) And nowadays, of course, you can find dictionaries and thesauri online.

A word of warning: however you access your references, go for the good ones. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is best for British English. Collins is OK. If you are American, make sure your Webster dictionary is Merriam-Webster. A lot of inferior dictionaries put "Webster" in their titles.

To finish, I'll give a list of the basic 'building blocks' of English. Hopefully* you know them already; if not, it's time to start. (Don't be put off by the names. They come from another language, but then so do most of the words you use, and you had no trouble learning what they mean.)

Noun

The name of something. Can be a thing, a person, a place, or even an idea.

Verb

An action. A 'doing-word'. Every sentence needs a verb (though some don't always get one; the verb can— if you know what you're doing— be implied.

Pronoun

Stands in for a noun. I, you, they, it are all pronouns.

Adjective

Describes a noun. Usually placed in front, but some can go after.

Adverb

Describes the action of a verb. Usually ends in -ly, but a number of common ones don't. 'Quick' and 'quickly' are both adverbs, for example (and 'quick' is also an adjective).

Subject

The person or thing performing the action of a sentence.

Object

The person or thing the action is performed upon, eg Isubject readverb the bookobject.

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