Resources For Beginner Writers
Published on 14th June 2021
Whether you’re an experienced writer or just starting out on your writing journey, we have an amazing array of fantastic resources to inform and to guide you. All you need is Dublin City Libraries card.
Magazines for writers:
The Libby Magazine Collection (formerly RB Digital) has a number of useful magazines and reviews for writers at every stage of their journey. These publications contain expert tips and author insights, industry news, information on competitions and prizes, guidance on getting published and finding an agent, author profiles, new writing, and much more.
The Writer
Writer's Digest
Writing Magazine
Poets & Writers
The Paris Review
To sign up to Libby, download the app from Google Play - Android | iTunes - iOS, and follow the prompts to find Dublin City Libraries, and register with your library card number and PIN. For more detailed information on using Libby, check out our how to video below.
Books for writers:
BorrowBox has a great selection of titles with information on finding an agent and getting published, as well advice on how to hone and improve your writing skills. Here is a selection of some of the great titles on offer – just remember you need to login first with you library card:
Writer’s Market 2020
The Writer’s Practice
Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2018
Writers’ & Artists’ Guide to How to Hook an Agent
Writers' and Artists' Guidebook to Self-Publishing
Howdunit! A Masterclass in the Craft of Crime Writing
Letters to a Young Writer by Colum McCann
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
Brave the Page
The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life
The Book You Were Born to Write
Semicolon
Publish Your Own Book and e-Book
Improv for Writers
Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.
Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves
Write Every Day: Daily Practice to Kickstart Your Creative Writing
The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates
Access eBooks/eAudiobooks on your phone, tablet or reader. Once you have installed the app, search for Dublin in the ‘Library’ field provided and then sign in using your library membership card number and PIN. Watch our how to video on BorrowBox. Members of other library authorities will need to log in using a different link.
Courses for writers:
Universal Class provides access to over 500+ online courses including 55 courses on writing.
Take your pick from the following:
• Novel Writing 101
• Romance Writing
• Writing Women’s Fiction
• Creative Writing 101
• Creative Writing for Beginners
• Creative Writing Workshop
• How to Write a Short Story
• How to Write Short Stories for Children
• Historical Fiction Writing
• Mystery Writing
• Screen Writing 101
• Poetry Writing
Or if you want to hone your non-fiction writing skills, some of these may be of interest:
• Journalism 101
• Nonfiction Writing 101
• Freelance Writing 101
• Essay Writing 101
• Travel Writing 101
• Journaling and Memoir Writing
Universal Class courses include tutorials, lessons, assignments, discussion boards, and feedback on work you’ve submitted. All the courses are completely online, self-paced, available 24/7, and you have six months to finish each one. You’ll be awarded a certificate at the end that you can print off and keep.
If you prefer not to do any assignments, a lot of Universal Class courses give you an option to just watch the video tutorials. Just to note, you won’t get a certificate at the end if you choose this option.
You can register here for Universal Class. Or find it on the Libby app via the Extras link.
The Great Courses offers a series of half-hour video lectures including some great advice for writers, such as:
• How to Publish Your Book
• How to Write Best-Selling Fiction
• Screen Writing 101: Mastering the Art of the Story
• Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques
• Writing Great Essays: Becoming a Great Essayist
• The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction
Each course is taught by experts in their field, and includes a supplementary guide book. You can play, pause, and review information as often as you like. You can access as many courses as you want to for seven days. After seven days, simply log in again to get another seven day’s access.
To access the Great Courses, click on the Extras link on the Libby app.
Dictionaries and grammar resources:
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It gives you access to over 600,000 words and their history, meaning and pronunciation, as well as over 3 million quotations from classic literature to specialist periodicals. As well as the latest content from the full Oxford English Dictionary, you also have access to the Historical Thesaurus of the OED. Take a look at some of their short video guides to help you get the most out of your OED use.
Oxford Dictionaries Premium gives access to Oxford's most comprehensive dictionaries and thesauri of current English including more than 350,000 words and phrases, and more than 1.9 million example sentences. It also offers access to additional English grammar resources including: additional English grammar resources including: New Hart’s Rules, New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Use. Check out their online guide for help in understanding how navigate this resource.
With this resources, you can also perfect your skills in eight major world languages as follows: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Reference and research resources for writers:
Oxford Reference offers access to a wide selection of dictionaries, companions and thesauri to help you find the exact word or phrase that you’re looking for, and to help inform and enrich your writing, including the following selection of titles:
The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage
The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins
The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
New Oxford Rhyming Dictionary
The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
Oxford Paperback Thesaurus
Oxford Essential Quotations (featuring over 3,000 authors and 600 subjects)
If you’re interested in writing historical fiction or are researching by-gone eras, Oxford Reference also gives you access to 270 historic timelines to explore, organised by period, area, and theme.
To access the Oxford Reference resources outlined above, simply enter your library card number where indicated (usually to the top or to the left of the screen), and select Dublin City Libraries if prompted.
More reference and research tools for writers:
Check out our blog posts for more information on our wide range of home study reference and research tools, including art and music resources.
Have a look at out our website for a full list of all our online resources. Don’t have a library card? join here. If you can’t access all our online resources with your online registration, or if you have queries or need any help, contact us at [email protected]
Stay safe, stay well, and keep writing!
Submitted by Reader/Bibliographic Services