The "how-to-write" books here are especially for us, not for thrillers, domestic dramas, mysteries, or the rest of irrelevant mainstream fiction. They teach everything those foolish "one style fits all" books do, plus the special attitudes and tricks we need. Books are alphabetized by title, just so we don't always seen the same people up front.

Even the best of us have bad days when that rule for something complex in language eludes us. Everyone needs some grammar reference, and if yours feels shaky there's some very lightsome ways of buffing up your commas here.

Of course, every writer needs a thesaurus. A dictionary is handy for the odder entries there, or when you need the perfect but obscure word. In historical settings modern words may not be at all appropriate, and you'll need the ones marked "obs."

Any of these will be good for our Portal writers, but we've got some special how-to's just for them.

• The Chicago Manual of Style : The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (14th
  Univ of Chicago Press, 14th edition (1993). List price $40, but usually hugely discounted.
  
  A reference for grammar and punctuation, preferred by some.
  
  
• Conceiving the Heavens: Creating the Science Fiction Novel
  Melissa Scott, Heinemann, 1997. List Price $16.95, and so popular it has no discount
  
  A more advanced approach for you who have already read everything else, but perfectly good for a first how-to book, too.
  
  
• The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed
  Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Pantheon, 1993. List Price $22 and less.
  
  Sly, gothic, witty, accurate, and deliciously illustrated. Keep an eye out for the original version, The Transitive Vampire. Lots more fun than Strunk, White, Fowler's, or anyone else in grammar.
  
  
• Elements of Style
  William Strunk, White E. B., E. B. White; Allyn & Bacon, 3rd ed (1995). List price $5.95 and less.
  
  One of the top standard books on English usage, grammar, and punctuation, and cheap, too!
  
  
• How to Write Science Fiction
  Matthew J. Costello, Shooting Star Press, 1995. List price $10.95 or less.
  
  A solid reference on both writing and the genre, if the WDB party line makes you twitch.
  
  
• How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
  Orson Scott Card, Writer's Digest Books, 1990. List price $14.99 or less.
  
  Simply and well written, with guidelines to both the writing and building the surround. Many readers find it an excellent book on the art and craft of writing in any genre.
  
  
• How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction
  J. N. Williamson (editor); Writer's Digest Books, 1991. List price $14.99 or less.
  
  Contains writing advice from notable authors like Robert Block, Ray Bradbury, Dean R. Koontz, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Charles L. Grant.
  
  
• The New Fowler's Modern English Usage
  R. W. Burchfield (Editor), H. W. Fowler; Clarendon Press (3rd ed., 1996). List price: $25.00 and less
  
  Basic reference on style and usage. Has been slammed by some for admitting more common usages in the place of older "correct" ones, but this may suit you fine.
  
  
• The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed
  Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Ticknor and Fields, 1993. List price $14.95 or less.
  
  Another cheerful, elegant, accurate and attractive seduction of the reader in a field usually left to very dry rules lists.
  
  
• Oxford English Dictionary: CD-Rom for Windows
  Oxford University Press (1994). List price $395; not discounted at amazon.com, but try the publisher direct if you just have to have it.
  
  This multiple CD-ROM set contains the entire 20-volume unabridged in an easy-to-search format. Price makes your hair stand on end, but consider the savings in not having to rent a larger apartment.
  
  
• Roget's International Thesaurus
  Peter Roget, Robert L. Chapman HarperCollins 5th edition (August 1993). List price $13.95 and less.
  
  A thesaurus, if you are not familiar with it, is far more than a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Roget's brilliance lay not in compiling words, but in laying out ideas in relationship to each other. In a dictionary form, if the only word you can think of is "refulgence" you are probably lost. You have to have one of the listed words before you can find any others, and by the time you have thought of one, you don't need it. A thesaurus, on the other hand, lets you find words when you don't have any word, just a vague idea. You go to the right area of ideas and browse. A must for serious writers and serious learners.
  
  
• Strategies of Fantasy
  Brian Attebery, Indiana University Press, 1992. List price $10.
  
  Concentrating on the works of Le Guin, John Crowley, Tolkien, Diana Wynne Jones, Gene Wolfe, and others, Attebery studies the construction of fantasy for both the writer and the reader. One of the more pleasant introductions to modern literary theory, too.
  
  
• Torn Wings and Faux Pas: A Flashbook of Style, a Beastly Guide Through the Writer's Labyrinth
  Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Pantheon Books, 1997. List $23.
  
  Now Gordon takes her Gothic menagerie into advanced matters, from the split inifinitive debate to parallel construction, dangling modifiers.
  
  
• To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction
  Joanna Russ, Indiana University Press, 1995. List price $27.95 or less.
  
  Noted novelist Russ explores the prescence of women in science fiction as authors as much as characters, and how the genre shapes and is shaped by the writer's and protagonist's gender. Recommended for those wanting to move beyond what they think they know about it.
  
  
• The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters
  Christopher Vogler, Michael Wiese Productions (November 1992). List price: $22.95 and less.
  
  Vogler has taken the outlines of The Hero's Journey by Campbell and recooked it for writers creating myths, rather than readers analysing them. However, you had better already know or be willing to look up a lot of technical jargon like "archetypes" and such. We have seen this applied to contemporary thrillers and mysteries; it certainly provides a viable structure for our field, if sometimes a little too familiar.
  
  
• Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: And Getting Published (Teach Yourself)
  Brian Stableford, Teach Yourself, 1998. List price $10.95 and less.
  
  Excellent new book by a most admirable writer.
  
  
• Writing Fantasy Fiction
  Sarah Lefanu, A& C Black, 1996. List price $15.95 and less.
  
  Especially geared to building the fantasy world, the conscious use of archetypes, with special chapters on dark fantasy, comic fantasy, and fantasy for children. Good on the importance of rewriting.
  
  
• Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
  Gardner Dozois, Tina Lee, S. Schmidt, R. Strock, S. Williams, I. Strock; St. Martin's Press, 1993. List price $9.95 and less.
  
  A collection of twenty essays on aspects of the field, from comedy to characterization, like Heinlein's "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction" with a bias to the short story.
  
  

Especially for The Portal

• Art Of Fiction: Notes On Craft For Young Writers
  J. Laslocky (Editor), John C. Gardner.
  
  A very good book for the intermediate, sometimes intimidating for the beginner. Makes the old-fashioned assumption that the writer can always be addressed as "he".
  
  
• What's Your Story?: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction
  Marion Dane Bauer, Clarion, 1992.
  Softback List price $6.95 or less.
  Hardback List Price: $14.95 or less.
  
  Good for beginners, and not likely to be over your head and leave you confused. Written for junior high or a little younger. Certainly worth reading at the library.
  
  
• Market Guide For Young Writers
  Kathy Henderson. Writer's Digest Books, 1998. Softback; List Price: $16.99 and less.
  
  Lots of tips and useful market information for hopeful young writers. Actually a pretty good how-to, getting down to the nitty-gritty of ms prep. As there are not many "young writer specific" markets, this is not a hefty market section. However, there are some periodicals where they only want teen writers. Includes e-zines.
  
  
• To Be A Writer: A Guide for Young People Who Want to Write and Publish
  Barbara Seuling, Twenty-First Century Books, NY. Hardcover; list Price: $20.40 and less.
  
  As the author says, "For kids who like to write and want to be really good at it. It's got information on how to get ideas, what to do when you have an idea, how to plot your stories and draw realistic characters, how to use dialogue and description effectively, how to share your writing with others, which contests to enter, writing software, what to do if you want to go to a writing camp, and how to get your work published. Kids online and off helped with this book, so I think young people will find it fun and helpful, too." Listed for grades 4-8, or ages 9-12 (they did it, we didn't)
  
  
• Real Toads in Imaginary Gardens: Suggestions and Starting Points for Young Creative Writers
  Stephen Phillip Policoff & Jeffrey Skinner. Softcover; list cover $11.95
  
  An excellent book aimed at high-school teens.
  
  
• How to Write a Story (Speak Out, Write On)
  Kathleen C. Phillips.
  Hardback List price $24.00
  Softback List Price: $7.95 and less
  
  A good young adult's book on putting a story together. A real emphasis on craft.