Remember as you read this, it is written using Western and History as examples, however, the rules, unless otherwise specified, apply to all genres…

OTHER WESTERNS AND HISTORICALS: The main source of research for a new historical or western writer should be other westerns and historicals. Just as it should be for the beginning writer of whatever genre you choose to write about, read the greats.

For westerns and historicals, read the following:

Louis L’Amour

james reindeer

elmer kelton

matte brown

john jakes

Dorothy M Johnson

don blacksmith

cameron judd

Robert Vaughn

William Johnstone

richard wheel

james carnation

Henry

Terry Johnson

elmore leonard

tony hillerman

Larry McMurtry

And any other you can get your hands on.

I didn’t purposely exclude female writers from the list above, it’s just that I don’t read many women besides Mary Higgins Clark, who I think is a fabulous and direct writer, but doesn’t write historical stories (at best) . of my knowledge). Dorothy M. Johnson, who is included, wrote A Man Called Horse among many others. It is a must read if you care and want to learn about the West.

There are many excellent writers who specialize in romance, my wife, Kat, among them. It is probably the most underrated genre when it comes to excellent historical research. I respect and admire her writing and research, and I just exclude them from the list above, as this manual is mostly about westerns and historicals, and the list would more than double if it included them.

And you can also learn something by reading other genres. Of the last five novels I’ve read, only one was a western.

I’d include Zane Gray in the list above, but his style is too full of purple prose for today’s market. I mean, he has too much description. Too many golden sunsets and gun-toting evening skies for the average editor today. But I love reading it and you can too, but emulate the above if you want to sell westerns or historical.

The above list epitomizes the classic western and historical genres being published today. Each has its strengths. With over one hundred and two million copies sold, Mr. L’Amour is the best-selling Western writer of all time, reason enough to read it if he wants to become one.

You could probably locate every freshwater spring in the desert in a L’Amour novel. He was a fan of geographical details. He was also a master of chapter beginnings and endings, particularly in his later novels. James Reno is a master of action verbs, as I mentioned before, and of motivation. Matt Braun and John Jakes are masters of characterization and two of the most compelling writers I have ever had the pleasure to read.

In my opinion, Elmer Kelton is probably the best western writer in recent times (we lost him a couple of years ago), in pure genre westerns. He ties it all together, with a knowledge of the land and the hard-working people that only comes from living it.

Will Henry, now dead, is one of the greats.

In addition to the above, you should read and watch Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Although it is not a Western genre in the purest sense, it is a wonderful and powerful novel of the West. McMurtry is a master of characterization and while he doesn’t write a hook, a “gets you hooked” opening, stick with him until page 90 and you’ll be hooked: he’s the kind of writer we should all aspire to become. The writer of a writer. A Pulitzer Prize winner. And I daresay Lonesome Dove would have been better off with a hook.

DICTIONARIES: If you know how to write without a dictionary, you are a better man than me. I use more than one. In fact, I use six (and of course there are now a hundred available on the web). And remember that there are hundreds of volumes out there with the lexicon of different professions, etc.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language

It is the one I have referred to so many times. It’s wonderful for a western or historical writer for the main reason that when he looks up the word kerosene (it was originally a trademark and therefore in all caps), he defines the word and then gives him one of these: [1852], and that tells you when the word was first used. Don’t use kerosene before 1852 or some clever editor will cross it out and say “Use coal oil or whale oil, fool.” It has the other wonderful features that other dictionaries have, but the date the word was first used is the one I value the most.

Western Words, A Dictionary of the American West by Ramon F. Adams

it’s one I mentioned earlier, and it’s a wonderful addition to the western and historical writer’s library. Example:

Broomtail: A range mare with a long

thick tail. Usually abbreviated as broomie.

My Random House does not define broom tail.

Dictionary of the Old West by Peter Watts.

Also one mentioned above. A more erudite edition than the previous one, but with a less authentic color of the time. It has wonderful illustrations.

The fourth is a:

Webster’s 1846 edition

I found at a Friends of the Library sale. It will tell you if a word was in use at the time. Remember, many words may not appear in the dictionary.

I also occasionally refer to the fifth:

Dictionary of the vulgar language of 1811

Believe me when I tell you that this little gem has words and phrases that you will never find in another dictionary.

Words are, or should be, fascinating to the writer.

Even its origins.

Words like lariat, for example, were misconceptions. When the gringo cowboy heard the cowboy refer to his la reata, he thought he was saying lariat and a new word was born. As was lasso de lasso (Spanish for rope), and many, many more.

All the words did not appear and do not appear in the dictionary, because the language is always growing and changing.

The sixth is brand new, written by a fine Western writer, Win Blevins, and includes over 5,000 terms. It is a must have for any historical writer.

The Dictionary of the American West

facts on file, inc.

460 Park Avenue South

New York, New York 10016-7382

Invest in yourself and buy the above for your library.

TECHNICAL BOOKS: I mentioned that I have to research my use of English. The two volumes below are the bibles of writers and editors.

The elements of the style of Strunk and White

A slim volume that every writer needs to read, then reread, then refer to.

The Chicago Manual of Style

by the editorial staff of the University of Chicago Press. A manual used by many editors and copyeditors in New York. If you want to know when to capitalize, or how to write choppy speech in dialogue, or a thousand other things. Many feel that this is the final authority.

MAGAZINES There are four magazines that every aspiring western, historical, or romance writer should read, and hundreds more to research and create, depending on what you’re writing about and what genre you decide to specialize in, if that’s what you want. The first is aimed at romance, but it has many market novelties and flows into other genres. The next two are helpers in terms of the writing process and somewhat in terms of the market. The latter is in the business of writing and publishing.

romantic times

Bergen Street, 55

Brooklyn Heights, New York 11201

Writer’s Summary

Box 2131

Harlan, Iowa 51593

The writer

120 Boyston Street

Boston, MA 02116

Publisher’s Weekly

Box 1979

Marion, OH 43306-1979

The first three magazines won’t let you publish, but they will tell you what other writers are thinking and doing, how to improve your writing, and will keep you judging your own work and comparing it to others.

Publisher’s Weekly is an industry magazine that talks about the publishing industry and book sales. Costing more than $100 a year, it’s less important to a beginning writer than the other two, but it’s worth reading at the library you wander to for other research. It also has genre-specific themes, and if you’re interested in, say, children’s books, then I’d make sure to look up a couple of issues they do on that theme each year. If for no other reason than to study what other writers and publishers are doing in the field.

There are many gender-specific magazines and newsletters. There is a specific bulletin for medieval times, etc., etc. Browse your library to find posts that are specific to the time and place you want to write about.

Other great magazines are gender, profession, geographic, or otherwise specific. All of them are, or can be, excellent reference sources for a particular writer. I write about old California and use:

californians

5720 Ross Road Branch

Sebastopol, CA 95472

(I have no idea if it’s still running)

which is an excellent historical magazine with articles that inspire not only characters but plots. It is full of time, place and vernacular. It’s also damn entertaining.

There are dozens of regional magazines that are excellent sources of material and excellent markets for regional writers.

And there are specialized magazines. When I write about a specific topic, I often subscribe to a specialized magazine. Right now I’m taking Reptiles, a hobby magazine, while writing about a bad guy who owns a reptile house.

We’re about to wrap this up so you can start writing the great American novel. Skip to the next article!