Here are online resources to help you improve your writing and become a better writer. No matter what kind of writing you are doing, whether you are a journalist or an entertainment blogger, a student who has to write an essay or someone who wants to become a screenwriter, there are sites on the Internet that can help you out with your writing.
Here we have compiled a list of great sites that will help you with focused writing, whether it is your career or you are just doing it for fun. These useful sites have been divided into five different categories of tools and resources that you may need as a writer.
Organize Your Writing
1. Evernote – Evernote can help you keep track of all your writing notes, ideas and interesting articles. It is a multi-platform web application with which you can bookmark websites, clip a portion of website, take and organize notes, snap a picture and much more.
2. Ubernote – Ubernote is another note taking web application which makes it very easy to organize writing your writing ideas.
3. Clipmarks – Clipmarks is a useful web widget and browser plugin that lets you quickly clip and save webpages online.
4. Bubbl.us – This is a great tool for those who like to think visually and offers great mind-mapping devices for those who like to organize their thoughts graphically.
5. Wisemapping – Wisemapping is a great mind-mapping and brainstorming web application.
Writing Aids
6. Windows Live Writer – If you are a blogger you’ll love Windows Live Writer because it allows you to publish to any blogging platform.
7. Plagiarism Checker – If you are a web writer, this tool is handy to use to detect plagiarism.
8. AutoCrit – This site can automatically identify weak words and structures in your writing once you have entered in your text. It is like having your own virtual critic.
9. Visuwords – Visuwords is an online graphical dictionary to find word meanings and associations with other words and concepts.
10. Wordcounter – Another virtual critic or editor, this site identifies words that you use often and makes you put more variety into your writing.
11. Creative Writing Games – On this website you have couple of creative writing games which can help you with inspiration.
12. FocusWriter – FocusWriter helps you focus better on your writing. It creates a distraction free environment. See distraction-free mode in WordPress.
13. Q10 – This is a text editor which helps you concentrate on your writing and avoid unnecessary distractions.
14. Phras.in – If you are not sure how to say something, or you are having a dilemma between two expressions you can check how many times each of them has been mentioned online.
15. Tip of my tongue – This tool can help you to find out which word it at the tip of your tongue.
Improve Grammar
16. Grammarly – Grammarly is an online tool that helps you with your grammar. Unfortunately, it’s not free but there is a 7-day trial.
17. Grammar Girl – This site is very easy to use and provides short and fun tips to improve your writing. It highlights common grammar mistakes that people make.
18. Grammar and Style – This site offers a nice list of grammatical rules and explanations that will help people who are having trouble grasping the basic and advances rules of writing.
19. Oxford dictionaries – Oxford dictionaries website offers excellent advice on grammar and better writing.
Online Dictionaries
20. Cambridge Dictionaries – One of the ultimately printed dictionaries offers an online version for all to use for free. See also our extensive Blogging Glossary.
21. Dictionary.com – This dictionary is based on the famous Roget’s Dictionary and through this site, you have quick access to Thesaurus.com as well.
22. Merriam-Webster.com – The online version of one of the most well-known and most used print dictionaries.
23. UrbanDictionary.com – This is the ultimate dictionary if you are looking for slang and want to write pieces in modern vernaculars that you might not be completely familiar with.
24. The Free Dictionary – This website allows you to make your own personalized dictionary homepage and is one of the most used online dictionaries.
25. Synonym Finder – If you keep repeating the same words in your writing, this website can help you to find more appropriate synonyms.
26. Synonyms – One of the most comprehensive collections of synonyms on the Internet.
27. Idiom Dictionary – This dictionary has an excellent collection of idioms.
Social Networking Tools
28. GoodReads – A great social network if you are interested in getting the opinions of others on the books they have read, forming a book club, joining discussions, and much more.
29. Shelfari – This site is a book recommendation site, but you can join various book communities and learn a lot from readers’ comments.
30. Red Room – Red Room is a community for both aspiring and professional writers, readers, journalists, and publishers.
31. Writing – A social network for authors that gives you a good community of writers, readers, and editors to communicate with daily.
Guest author Janice Blythe is a regular writer for Cometdocs, a free online document conversion service.