Online - Thirty Tools for Writers. [Author’s note: Of the many things I’ve written for the Poynter website, none has been as popular as my "Twenty Tools for Writers. " This list has been quoted, cited, praised, debated, and repurposed by writers, editors, teachers, and other professionals who care about the craft. That folks find these tools useful gives me courage. So I’m adding ten more to my workbench, and sharpening up several others. As you can see, I’m very impressed with myself. At times it helps to think of writing as carpentry.
Below is a list of 30 writing and revising tools. Sentences and Paragraphs 1. 2. 3. 4. Language 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Effects 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Structure 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. The Writing Life 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. This list contains tools, not rules. Tags: Writing tips and techniques. James Fallows on Outlining Software. While out of range for the past week, I've not weighed in on a lot of subjects I would normally have a view on, from the Nigerian would-be suicide bomber, to the nature and function of the TSA, to the implications of press and judicial developments within China, to the latest twist in China's policy on the RMB. I will plan to catch up, on each and all, in the next day or two.
For the moment ... how about a promising entry from the world of "interesting" technology? What I have in mind is Thinklinkr, a free, "cloud"-based outlining program that very much deserves attention. Since the dawn of the personal computing age, outlining programs have constituted a fascinating but often heartbreaking product category. Fascinating because they are an essential component of electronic "thinking tools. " (Another essential component: systems for collecting, organizing, and retrieving info.
And ideally one more: something to do the actual thinking and writing. Thinklinkr. James Fallows on The Personal Brain. What is my purpose on Earth? Raising my children? Being as good and supportive a husband to my wife as (the movie version of) Paul Child was to Julia in the new film? Working for world peace and sustainable environmental development and a more humane society? Helping keep my magazine afloat? Yeah yeah yeah. I often think that my real purpose, apart from dreaming about getting back into aviation and tennis (and, gulp, finishing the next book), is to tinker with every piece of "interesting" software that anyone can cook up. But for the moment: Personal Brain, from TheBrain software in Marina del Rey, California. The idea of the program is to connect any item -- a call you want to make, a web site you want to quote, a PDF file you want to read, or even an entire project you're beginning -- with any other, in a flexible variety of relationships.
Here is an idea of how that can look with another level of links in the network of connections made visible: Unexpected testimonial. BrainStorm: accelerates thinking, writing and planning. Zoot - Personal Information Manager - PIM. Lulu.com. WRITING. BookTour: Where Authors and Audiences Meet. Five Open Source Apps For Writers and Authors. By Lisa Hoover - Jul. 17, 2009Comments (9) Even if you have the perfect idea for the next Great American Novel, getting it down on paper is never easy.
While you could always use standard word processors like OpenOffice Write or AbiWord, they don't have the bells and whistles that make writing books, manuals, and theses as easy as possible. Fortunately, there are a few open source applications that help budding authors get stories out of their heads and into the hands of readers. Kabikaboo - This recursive writing assistant is perfect for managing large documents, technical manuals, and long novels. It arranges data in tree-form so parent modules, their children, and their grandchildren can be easily moved around and rearranged. Storybook - Any author or novelist will tell you writing a book is a complicated affair. Celtx - Many scriptwriters swear by Celtx, and with good reason.
Windows writing apps. Celtx - #1 Choice for Media Pre-Production.