Be a Better Writer--RESOURCES FOR THE WRITER
Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:56 am
This week’s post will be a little different, because I really, really would love your contributions to the various items posted here. I’ve compiled a list of resources for writers, and I suspect that you all have your favorite resources that you can add to the list.
Brainstorming resources:
I just received my copy of the Writer Emergency Pack in the mail today, which got me thinking about this week’s lesson. It’s not cheap, but it’s got some great ideas, and I can’t wait to spend a bit more time with it.
I love the Storymatic box, which has literally millions of combinations of characters and situations.
There’s an app for iPhone called “The Brainstormer” that will also generate myriad combinations of characters, settings, and conflicts.
When I was teaching high school, I used Nanofictionary to teach my students the concepts of conflict, setting, and resolution. It’s also got a lot of possible combinations for brainstorming.
Enter “story prompts” or “writing prompts” into Amazon’s search bar and you’ll get dozens of books, boxed sets of cards, and games for nearly every type of writing.
In addition, you can Google “story prompts” or “writing prompts” and you’ll get hundreds of sites—and unlike the other items on this list, these are free.
Grammar resources:
Grammarly is a free download that does a far better job at spell-checking and grammar-checking your writing than any similar program I’ve seen. It’s not perfect, but it catches a lot, and once you’ve downloaded it, it’ll check your grammar not just in your word processing program, but everywhere else: email, Facebook, here on the forums, and anywhere else that you write.
I also like Grammar Girl for answers to tricky grammar questions.
Here on FaithWriters, don’t forget Ann’s Grammar Basics.. She’s a busy gal, and her forum tends to go through periods of activity and inactivity. But if “business” picked up there, I’m sure she’d pop in more often, and her advice is as fine as any I’ve ever seen.
Vocabulary resources:
I love Free Rice. You take a vocabulary quiz (or a quiz about any of several other topics), and for every question you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to alleviate world hunger.
Vocabulary.com is also based on vocabulary quizzes. The site learns from you and adjusts what words you get quizzed on, for increasing difficulty and increasing mastery.
As I mentioned in a previous lesson on vocabulary, Reader’s Digest magazine has monthly vocabulary quizzes. You should be able to get access to back issues at your local library.
Books on Writing:
You can look these up on Amazon or a similar site, or in your library:
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, by Lynn Truss
The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard
Miscellaneous Websites:
RhymeZone, for rhymes, near-rhymes, synonyms, antonyms, and much more
Dictionary.com,, which also has a good thesaurus
BrainyQuote, for, well, brainy quotes
Google Translate, is far from perfect, but it’s a good place to start. It’s more useful if you’re trying to figure out what a foreign phrase is in English than if you’re looking to translate your English into a foreign language. In either case, it’s better to check with a native speaker, if possible. For Spanish translation, I like SpanishDict.
Bible Gateway has the entire Bible in dozens of translations.
Not a writing site, but I absolutely love Lumosity. It’s not free, but it has dozens of entertaining brain games to keep your brain working and stretching every day.
These are the sites and resources I use most often, but I’m sure I’ve left out lots and lots of great ones. Please add your own, perhaps with a sentence about how you use it or why you like it. Think of these categories:
Websites
Books or magazines
Apps
…and also of the writing categories I’ve used here:
Brainstorming/Writing Prompts
Grammar
Vocabulary
Miscellaneous
If I get enough additional resources listed here, I’ll put together a new, comprehensive list and make it available free by email to those who ask for it, but I really need your help. I’m positive there are gaps in my list, and there must be many, many resources that you all use to help you to become better writers. Let’s come up with a great list, okay?
Writer Resources - Part 2
Brainstorming resources:
I just received my copy of the Writer Emergency Pack in the mail today, which got me thinking about this week’s lesson. It’s not cheap, but it’s got some great ideas, and I can’t wait to spend a bit more time with it.
I love the Storymatic box, which has literally millions of combinations of characters and situations.
There’s an app for iPhone called “The Brainstormer” that will also generate myriad combinations of characters, settings, and conflicts.
When I was teaching high school, I used Nanofictionary to teach my students the concepts of conflict, setting, and resolution. It’s also got a lot of possible combinations for brainstorming.
Enter “story prompts” or “writing prompts” into Amazon’s search bar and you’ll get dozens of books, boxed sets of cards, and games for nearly every type of writing.
In addition, you can Google “story prompts” or “writing prompts” and you’ll get hundreds of sites—and unlike the other items on this list, these are free.
Grammar resources:
Grammarly is a free download that does a far better job at spell-checking and grammar-checking your writing than any similar program I’ve seen. It’s not perfect, but it catches a lot, and once you’ve downloaded it, it’ll check your grammar not just in your word processing program, but everywhere else: email, Facebook, here on the forums, and anywhere else that you write.
I also like Grammar Girl for answers to tricky grammar questions.
Here on FaithWriters, don’t forget Ann’s Grammar Basics.. She’s a busy gal, and her forum tends to go through periods of activity and inactivity. But if “business” picked up there, I’m sure she’d pop in more often, and her advice is as fine as any I’ve ever seen.
Vocabulary resources:
I love Free Rice. You take a vocabulary quiz (or a quiz about any of several other topics), and for every question you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to alleviate world hunger.
Vocabulary.com is also based on vocabulary quizzes. The site learns from you and adjusts what words you get quizzed on, for increasing difficulty and increasing mastery.
As I mentioned in a previous lesson on vocabulary, Reader’s Digest magazine has monthly vocabulary quizzes. You should be able to get access to back issues at your local library.
Books on Writing:
You can look these up on Amazon or a similar site, or in your library:
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, by Lynn Truss
The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard
Miscellaneous Websites:
RhymeZone, for rhymes, near-rhymes, synonyms, antonyms, and much more
Dictionary.com,, which also has a good thesaurus
BrainyQuote, for, well, brainy quotes
Google Translate, is far from perfect, but it’s a good place to start. It’s more useful if you’re trying to figure out what a foreign phrase is in English than if you’re looking to translate your English into a foreign language. In either case, it’s better to check with a native speaker, if possible. For Spanish translation, I like SpanishDict.
Bible Gateway has the entire Bible in dozens of translations.
Not a writing site, but I absolutely love Lumosity. It’s not free, but it has dozens of entertaining brain games to keep your brain working and stretching every day.
These are the sites and resources I use most often, but I’m sure I’ve left out lots and lots of great ones. Please add your own, perhaps with a sentence about how you use it or why you like it. Think of these categories:
Websites
Books or magazines
Apps
…and also of the writing categories I’ve used here:
Brainstorming/Writing Prompts
Grammar
Vocabulary
Miscellaneous
If I get enough additional resources listed here, I’ll put together a new, comprehensive list and make it available free by email to those who ask for it, but I really need your help. I’m positive there are gaps in my list, and there must be many, many resources that you all use to help you to become better writers. Let’s come up with a great list, okay?
Writer Resources - Part 2