Not the Usual Writing Tools and Resources …
Any tool that is going to help you improve your writing skills is a good idea. After all, you cannot make a wheel without tools, so why not use them when you write?
While tools like Dictonary.com and other straightforward resources are often suggested on sites and articles across the web, we were looking for some more unique offerings. While you may have come across some of these resources before, we hope we’ve offered some that you may not have considered before.
Happy Writing!
Creativity Portal
http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html
They have an imagination portal that has prompts you can use to get your imagination flowing a little. It pumps out random thoughts that are supposed to get you thinking. Click on the link that says prompts, and you will find tools that may help you get your creative juices flowing. For example, they have a picture prompter that gives you pictures in a random order so as to create a little inspiration.
A Research Guide
http://www.aresearchguide.com/
This website is its own tool. It is like a big encyclopedia of the many technical aspects of essay writing. There are topics on the expected areas such as formatting and styles, but it also gets into quoting, when you to use parenthesis, what counts as plagiarism. It really goes into detail about the more technical aspects of writing an essay, and the website is free to use. It also has literature guides, which are very good for students completing essays for English qualifications.
Unusual Writing Ideas
http://www.writingforward.com/writing-ideas/unusual-writing-ideas
This set of ideas can be just what the blocked writer needs to stimulate new ideas and get creative. “18 writing ideas [that] are definitely unusual, and unlike most ideas, they don’t happen inside your head. You’ll make them happen with your body, your surroundings, and the tools you’re writing with.”
Spellcheck Plus
The great thing about this spelling and grammar checker is the fact it will pick up on things that your regular spelling and grammar checker will not. It is especially good for pointing out words that may be correctly-spelt typos. It is also good at teaching you why you went wrong and explaining if the error is actually an error on your part. You can learn from the things that it shows you. The tool has been created in a way that makes it slightly more text-aware by making assumptions about your writing. It asks you to check things that are grammatically correct and spelled correctly because people make common mistakes around that area/phrase or sentence element. It is a great tool to check your work and learn from at the same time.
FreeMind
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Improve the content of your essay with this tool. You can mind map some of your best ideas and use this tool to plan your essay. By planning your essay, you automatically make it of higher quality. The structure you create may improve your essay, and the points you note in your mind map will help you fit them into the essay more easily. It can be its own disjointed mess of ideas so that your essay doesn’t have to be.
Write Words Phrase Counter and Word Counter
http://www.writewords.org.uk/phrase_count.asp and http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp
Use both to find out if you are using the same words or phrases too frequently in the same piece of text. Have you gotten into the habit of writing, “Be that as it may†or “Of which� Or, maybe you are overly fond of the word, “Said†or “Then.†It may even be that you have frequently used a phrase that could be shortened down to make the text easier to understand.
Common Errors in English Use
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors
This is a resource that has a massive amount of possible errors that your grammar and spelling checkers are going to miss. Do you know the difference between principle and principal? Do you know the difference between alliterate and illiterate, or allude and elude, or what about the difference between allusive, elusive and illusive.
Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
Social Media Websites can be a Powerful Aid in Writing Assignment (with 5 Examples)
The Updated Classroom – Developing Student Writing Skills with Tablet and Smartphone Apps
4 Great Online Citation Tools For Students (for MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style citation styles)
I’m using Typely (https://editor.typely.com) as a proofreading tool coupled with Hemingway although Typely seems to incorporate Hemingway as well.
I appreciate your article, it\’s easy to understand and detailed, thank you for sharing.
Some great tips here, thanks! I use Freemind all the time. The lovely Leona Hinton just wrote a guest post on my blog you might find equally helpful: 10 Power Tools to Make You an Editing Wizard (http://goo.gl/6tUu5s). Thanks!
[…] Not the Usual Writing Tools and Resources … Any tool that is going to help you improve your writing skills is a good idea. After all, you cannot make a wheel […]
Thanks for pointing that our Mary – I’ve correct it now!
This is a great list – thank you. The last link did not work though. Here is what I used to find the site described:
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/
Mary
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[…] Not the Writing Usual Tools and Resources … Any tool that is going to help you improve your writing skills is a good idea. After all, you cannot make a wheel without tools, so why not use them… […]
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[…] Not the Writing Usual Tools and Resources … Any tool that is going to help you improve your writing skills is a good idea. After all, you cannot make a wheel […]
Great resources, thanks!
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[…] Not the Writing Usual Tools and Resources … Any tool that is going to help you improve your writing skills is a good idea. After all, you cannot make a wheel […]