Nov. 5: Building a Writer's Library.

Today's reading was about the necessity of building a library of books. The author believes that there are two categories of books that every writer regardless of genre should have. The first is books that demonstrate superbe writing--masterpieces of both fiction and nonfiction. Second books on the craft of writing along with a good set of reference books.
In "For Further Reflection" he gives a list of necessary reference books, some of which are common sense like a style manual and a very good dictionary plus a guide to writing and publishing, an up-to-date market guide, and how-to books on your particular genre. Then he states you also need to build up some basic reference books such as world history, regional histories (for the story locations you most write about), and specialized dictionaries such as biology, geology, psychology, mythology, quotations.
Today's "Try This" assignment is :
Set up a row of books on your desk (or within arm's reach) that you refer to most frequently when working on a given project. The aim here is to have books you can refer to quickly without disrupting the momentum of your writing. Over the next several weeks, use your journal to keep tabs on how you made use of those books.
I have some of the reference books he recommends along with books in the genres I most like to write. I also can access information regarding world history and regional history on-line. The same goes for specialized dictionaries. I am beginning to build a small library (mostly contained in one three-ringed binder and ultimately probably two) of things like market guides, how-to books etc. that I have been able to purchase on-line and download.