Ye Olde Dictionary
![Tongue :P](./images/smilies/tongue.gif)
When you know how to use it, and know better than to just look for the coolest-sounding synonym that's twice as long as the word you need.
Character-naming books and/or baby-naming books (which you can most definitely find in the nearest bookstore), if you're using real-world names. Alternatively,
behindthename.com (personally, I like to browse in the book and look up specific names on the website)
[url=writingexcuses.com]Writing Excuses,[/url] an excellent writing podcast led by three published and famous-in-the-right-circles authors (one is a webcomic artist): Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. They give great advice and are full of laughs. Best of all, their motto is "Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart."
http://coyotecult.com/communities/sfandf_critters/references/limyaael.php - Tons and tons of rants about what not to do if you're writing fantasy. Usually it boils down to common sense, but they're good things to think about.
You can find out things about the past that you never knew. And from what you've learned, you may see some things differently in the present. You're the one that changes. Not the past.
- Ellone, Final Fantasy VIII
![Image](http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/griselda_banks/reformed2.jpg)
"There's a difference between maliciously offending somebody - on purpose - and somebody being offended by...truth. If you're offended by the
truth, that's your problem. I have no obligation to not offend you if I'm speaking the truth. The truth is
supposed to offend you; that's how you know you don't got it."
- Brad Stine