This post is a collection point for all kinds of writing-related tools, websites, and resources — anything I find interesting, useful, or even crappy. It also includes things that were recommended to me or that I know about but haven’t checked out or used yet. I’ll add to it over time.
Recent
- You Absolutely Can Write a Book This Year and You Should: Introducing the Blog-Your-Own-Book Challenge – Ninja Writers Club. I’m not a paying member of the club but am blogging via my Medium publication Fit, Fudge, Fifty
- https://businessofwriting.org/ – Jane Friedman’s blog and book (The Business of Being a Writer )
Tools of the trade
- Vintage mechanical typewriter
- Notebooks
- Mechanical pencils
- Sticky notes
- A contractor’s clipboard (storage clipboard)
- iPad
Tools & software
- Scrivener – advanced software with a learning curve
- Trello – Online Kanban board (Michelle uses for plotting)
- Storyboarder – an easy to use digital storyboarding tool. I tend to visualize my story as if I were watching a movie so this tool might help me describe what I’m envisioning.
- Jutoh – ebook publishing software
- ISBN numbers – getting them via Bowker Identifier Services
- Vellum – ebook formatting tool
Online editors
- Hemingway editor – highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors to help you tighten up your writing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
- Grammarly – a plugin for Chrome that scans and helps you improve your words nearly anywhere you write on the web. Haven’t tried it yet
- IA Writer – A simple, stripped-down text editor. Used to use it on the iPad but haven’t for a long time. No rating yet
- The Most Dangerous Writing App
- Write or Die – highly configurable writing motivator (spiders!)
Associations
- Willamette Writers – and on Meetup
- Power of the Pen (Meetup) – and publication on Medium.com
- Author’s Alliance – focus on legal protections for authors
- Nonfiction Author’s Association – and on Meetup
- Professional Grant Writers – newsletter signup at bottom of page
- STC – Society for Technical Communication
- Write the Docs Portland
Editing
I reviewed both of these books here: Book Mentions: Tinkering & Troubleshooting
- Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print (2nd edition) by Renni Browne and Dave King
- Troubleshooting Your Novel: Essential Techniques for Identifying and Solving Manuscript Problems by Steven James (2016)
Newsletters & mailing lists
- Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter – lots of great tools from her
- K.M. Weiland – posts and newsletter
- Rachelle Gardner – agent and writing coach
Writing exercises
- Pimp my Plot – a brainstorming exercise that’s often a tradition at National Novel Writing Month kickoff parties. Participants respond to plot dilemmas using index cards.
- Writing contests and competitions
Branding and platform
- Jane Friedman’s post: https://www.janefriedman.com/author-platform-definition/
- Google Doc – I have been using this document to collect my thoughts on my own author platform (sort of like a writer’s resume and outreach possibilities)
- WordPress – website platform (Lorelle VanFossen’s blog and WordPress training)
- WordPress.com — WordPress online, commercial site, free and paid sites
- WordPress.org — Open source software for self-hosted WordPress
- What WordPress theme is that?
- Mailchimp – newsletter platform expanding into other social platforms (there are many other services, pricing often depends on the size of the list)
- Patreon (there are other membership-oriented sites for bloggers and writers)
- Goodreads (Michelle’s author page) – People have different opinions on whether to engage as an author on Goodreads or not. There can be some very mean and negative reviews on Goodreads.
- Amazon.com (Michelle’s author page)
Publishing platforms
- KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing
- Smashwords
- Apple Books -provides a platform called iBooks Author for self-publishing authors to create their books
- Draft2Digital
- IngramSpark
- BookBaby
- Barnes & Noble Press
- Kobo Writing Life – Kobo’s free-to-use self-publishing arm
- Patreon – Michelle’s Patreon page
- Medium.com – lots of good writing, stories / posts / articles both inside and outside a paywall.
- Power of the Pen on Medium.com
- Fit, Fudge, Fifty – Michelle’s publication and blog-a-book project about the challenges of midlife fitness
- Dreams, Illustrated – Michelle’s illustrated dream journal, publication on Medium.com
Videos
- iWriterly – The Official Website of Meg LaTorre – she has some helpful videos on YouTube
- Brandon Sanderson: Home – good humor and lectures
Things I’m not impressed by
I had a category here for things that “don’t impress me much.” I’m happy to say that the two things I’d previously listed are now defunct!
- Caution: many people make more money FROM authors than from writing. Be cautious about what courses, memberships, coaching and services you sign up for
- Author Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid
michelle rau 