Resources for Writers

I’ll always believe the best tool for writers is to read the work of talented authors, but there are plenty of additional resources to help you along the way. The following is an evolving list of recommendations, from craft books to writing software to building an online presence (and more!).

Please feel free to comment with your favorite helpers. Let’s share the wealth!

*Side note: once you’ve finished writing, it’s a good idea to edit (even before sending your work to a professional editor). For some help with self-editing, please see my post on Resources for Editors (and Self-Editing Writers).

Basic needs (get ’em met if you can):

Dictionary – Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary or Merriam-Webster online: In US book publishing, M-W is the go-to resource for checking spelling, hyphenation, etc. (If you have access to the Chicago Manual of Style, that also has hyphenation info. Between the two, all burning hyphenation questions should be answerable.)

Laptop, PC, Mac, or paper and pen – Any of these will work; just B-Y-O-Brain. Computers have their advantages (cut and paste, yes?); however, an argument can be made for putting pen to paper. Psychology Today says handwritten notes win out over digital for these four reasons:

• Jotting things down on paper is faster.
• Handwritten notes tend to be more accurate and have personalized flairs.
• Handwriting in a notebook triggers more robust brain activity.
• Writing by hand is associated with stronger neural encoding and memory retrieval.

A Space of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf got it right about needing room for creativity, especially for the women of her time. Here, I’ll apply her advice to all: If you want to write, you need the space to do it. Take that to mean both the mental space and the physical: a room, the corner of a room, a kitchen table, a comfy chair, a park bench, a blanket in a meadow. (Time and money don’t hurt either—unfortunately for many of us, Woolf was right about that too.)

Thesaurus – Merriam-Webster has a good one, and I’m a fan of Roget’s International Thesaurus. I’m just as likely to research word options online at Thesaurus.com, but wordhippo is another great option. Even if the word you’re looking for isn’t there, a thesaurus might help you peel it from the tip of your tongue.

Books on writing (craft, inspiration, and more):

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – By Anne Lamott. True to its name, this book is as much about Lamott’s life as it is about writing. It’s raw, inspiring, and at times, laugh-out-loud funny. It left me admiring Lamott for her courage, and it underscored for me, again, how much I value honesty.

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression – By Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. Remember the “show, don’t tell” principle? Of course you do. This book can help with that. Let your characters display their feelings in a natural, believable way. (*Don’t forget, dialogue can also help do that effectively.) There’s a whole collection of books like this in the Writers Helping Writers series.

The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface – By Donald Maass (author, writing instructor, and noted literary agent). Interested in making your readers feel all the feels? This book aims to get you there. I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve got it on my list!

Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc – By Dara Marks. As the sub-subtitle (The Secret to Crafting Extraordinary Screenplays) indicates, this book is aimed at writing for the screen, but undoubtedly, all writers can benefit from enhancing their story arcs.

McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar & Usage – By Mark Lester. This one’s also on my editing resource list, but it works here just as well. I wholeheartedly believe any writer can benefit from knowing the “rules” of grammar. It’ll allow you to understand when, how, and even why to break them.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft – By Stephen King. This is described as “part memoir, part masterclass” and it’s another resource I’ve seen repeatedly recommended. Also near the top of my to-read-soon list.

Point of View – By Sandra Gerth. In this case, I think the subtitle says it all: “How to use the different POV types, avoid head-hopping, and choose the best point of view for your book.” It’s on my reading list!

Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View – By Jill Elizabeth Nelson. You’ve heard of 3rd person point of view; deep POV moves that perspective closer to the reader. (Think of 1st and 3rd person melding.) It’s all about immersing your readers more fully in the story, and it can be very effective in certain genres.

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel – By Jessica Brody. The subtitle for this book is “The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need.” That may be the case. I confess I haven’t read it yet, but it’s literally (yes, literally!) in the mail and on its way here as I write. I’ve heard great things.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles – By Steven Pressfield. I haven’t read this one, but I’ve seen it recommended. No warm fuzzies in this book, from what I hear. It seems to be a guide to powering through resistance. Fair warning, writer’s block!

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within – By Natalie Goldberg. This may be less a book on writing craft and more a book on . . . well, what it says: freeing the writer within. I first read it while in college, when my dream of writing was all sunrise and mist and scribble-filled notebooks. Just looking at it makes me want to sit down, let go, and find my writing zen.

Zen in the Art of Writing – By Ray Bradbury. This came as a recommendation, and as a fan of Ray Bradbury’s, I’m a little disappointed in myself for not including it in my original post. It’s here now, though, and it’s also going on my list. It’s funny, the person who kindly suggested this book compared Bradbury’s passion for writing to Stephen King’s, and Amazon seems to do the same. Like King’s On Writing, this book is described as “part memoir, part masterclass.” I’m sold!

Business of writing (to aid in the all-important task of building your reader base):

Building a Story Brand – By Donald Miller. There’s the creative side of being a writer and the business side of it (which is the part that trips up many of us, myself included). This book, while focusing on the business end, also includes some helpful tips about story structure.

Canva – I’ve used it to design bookmarks, ads (with QR codes included), business templates, and even a book cover. There’s a free option, a 30-day free trial, and a paid pro version. See The Author Platform’s pro/con list for some great design ideas.

The Creative Penn – Here, Joanna Penn teaches authors how to “write, publish and market your book — and make a living with your writing.” She’s written bestselling books on the subject and runs an author-entrepreneur podcast.

Improve Your Author Website – By Debbie Emmitt. Your author website is helping you attract—and keep—readers, right? Are you sure about that? This book provides helpful information, tips, and insights into making your website successfully serve you and your writing. I’ve learned a lot (and am still learning) from its companion book, Improve Your Editor Website. Debbie also has a great blog, with plenty of offerings for writers.

Mikekowis.com – By Mike Kowis, Esq. This site includes articles on things like “How to Set Up an Author Business,” which details tax info and more. Kowis is also the author of 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Book.

Online resources (various):

Cliché finder – Search for clichés (or cliches, whichever you prefer), so you can remove them from your work—or add them to it, if that’s your goal. They’ve indexed 3,300 so far.

Create If Writing – They say their website is for “a writer, blogger or creative who wants to build an online platform without being smarmy.” They’re there to help you build your audience, and aren’t we all happy to avoid the smarm?

Critique Circle – According to their site, this is “one of the largest and longest-running writing communities on the web.” The theme of the circle? Critique and be critiqued. It operates on credits, which writers earn by providing constructive feedback on others’ submissions.

Google Maps – Use this to confirm the locations and spellings of place names, all around the world, as well as the distances (walking, cycling, driving, etc.) between places.

Helping Writers Become Authors – By K.M. Weiland (author mentor, writer of writing guides and fiction). Her blog posts are informative and interesting, and she also has a recently revived YouTube channel, where she shares a weekly Q&A for writers. I’ve subscribed.

Improve Your Writing Flow – I apologize for the shameless plug of my own blog, but the post I wrote on writing flow includes some common-sense reminders writers might find helpful. Things like using clear, simple language, reading your work aloud, and taking a break before self-editing can all help improve the flow of your work.

Linguaholic – This site includes a language forum, which you can use to help address grammar-related questions, and a blog with articles on everything from grammar to writing tips to commas.

Literary Hub – Loads of inspiration and information, all in a tidy, attractive site. Plenty to learn and, just as importantly, to read. Its offerings include “Craft and Criticism,” “Fiction and Poetry,” and “Crimereads.” Something for everyone with an interest in contemporary lit.

Louise Harnby’s blog and resource library  – I also shared the website of this well-known UK fiction editor in my post on resources for editors (and self-editing writers). She has much to offer wordsmiths, including a collection of free resources and downloads.

NaNoWriMo – You may already be familiar with National Novel Writing Month (November), but in case you’re not, it’s a quest to draft an entire novel in a month’s time. There’s also Camp NaNoWriMo, held each April and July. If neither are your thing, the website offers plenty of other resources.

Poets & Writers – The website, based on the well-known magazine of the same name, includes a list of small presses, plus lots of articles, blog posts, job listings, and writing contests. There are also tabs dedicated to publishing and promoting your writing, along with a lot of other helpful information.

Reedsy – The two most helpful (and free!) writing resources I’ve found through Reedsy are its blog on writers’ resources and its YouTube videos on various writing topics. Lots of great information, often in bite-sized chunks. (As you can see below, it also offers free a writing program, among other things.)

Rhymezone – Need a rhyme? This site is here to help. Enter a word, and it’s likely to bring up loads of results (unless your starting word happens to be orange).

Time and Date – This is my go-to resource for checking the time for anywhere in the world (world clock, time zone info) and the date (with calendars for different years, going backward and forward in time). It has a lot more to offer, too, including the weather, sun and moon calculators, and date-to-date calculators.

U.S. Copyright Office – For when you’ve finished (or nearly finished) your writing project. Learn how to protect your work with the help of their reference page.

Writer’s Digest – An online website aimed at helping you become a better fiction, nonfiction, or poetry writer. There’s a treasure trove of articles, information, and free downloads to be found here.

Writing software:

Chapterly – An author app written by best-selling authors. It offers a variety of tools, easy sharing options, templates, visual boards, cover design, etc. There’s a free trial option, but once that ends, you’ll need to pay for the app (“as low as $9.99/month”).

Google Docs – This is a pretty popular web-based word processor. I’ve used it, but not often enough to offer a fair review, other than to say while I don’t find it as easy to work with as MS Word for writing or editing, it is particularly helpful when the writing is a group project. It apparently allows you to work with a variety of document types, but one of the biggest positives? It’s free.

LibreOffice Writer – The free word processing component of LibreOffice software. They say it’s “simple enough for a quick memo, but powerful enough to create complete books with contents, diagrams, indexes, and more.” I have no firsthand experience to share, but plenty of authors swear by it.

Microsoft Word – I may be wrong, but I’d venture a guess that this word processing program is used by most writers (and editors). I like it for a whole host of reasons, but I’ll limit myself to these few:

• Read Aloud (which helps me improve my writing flow)
• Find and Replace (which can perform complicated or easy corrections, like eliminating double spaces after periods—one is now standard, in case anyone’s wondering)
• Comments (which are great for editing, but also useful for making notes in the margins while writing).

Reedsy Book Editor – A free online writing tool that offers writers, especially indie authors, distraction-free writing, easy sharing/group editing, and distribution-ready export files. Reedsy also includes some other interesting, writing-related tools, like a plot generator, a book title generator, and writing prompts.

Scrivener – This writing software, for use by Windows and Mac, is designed for writers of all kinds, but it seems to be particularly popular among self-publishing authors. I’ve never used it, but Reedsy reviewed its most recent version. Among the pros, they listed its flexibility and features, helpful at any stage of writing. The cons included its complexity and price (currently $59.99).

yWriter – This software was developed by a programmer/author. I have no experience with it, but I do know that it’s free and some writers prefer it. PCMag says it’s “ideal for writers who crave organization and data about their work.”

Writing with Authenticity (and Respect):

Conscious Style Guide – They say about their site: “The essential guide to conscious language. The latest news, observations, and style guides—all in one place.” An important resource for writers and editors, alike.

Diversity Style Guide – They say: “The Diversity Style Guide is a resource to help journalists and other media professionals cover a complex, multicultural world with accuracy, authority and sensitivity.” This may be geared toward journalism, but it has helpful information for all.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Thanks for reading, and please contact me at Three Quills Editing to discuss just about anything: books and poetry, rescue pets, your favorite pollinator-friendly native plants, or—one of my personal favorites—to request a free sample edit. I’d love to hear from you!