50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Writers and Writing Majors With the popularity of blogging and online journals, writers working in the online realm have a growing number of opportunities all the time to practice and refine their craft, and maybe even get paid for it. And if you’re a writing major, why not take advantage of all the opportunities to get great free and open source resources that can help you to write, edit and organize your work? Here’s a list of fifty open source tools that you can use to make your writing even better. Word Processors Why pay for expensive word processing programs when you can get high quality and open source alternatives for much less? yWriter: This word processor is designed especially for writers. Reference Everyone needs a little help with spelling and grammar now and again, and these programs can get you on the right track. JaLingo: This OS independent program allows users to easily look up words in a dictionary right from their desktop, whether they have an Internet connection or not. Organization Helpful Tools
Open Source Shakespeare: search Shakespeare's works, read the texts The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s so easy to hide in your little bubble, typing your little words with your little fingers on your little laptop from the comfort of your tiny chair in your miniature little house. It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer. Available in print withThe Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Written? Kitten! Reverse Dictionary <div id="needs_javascript"><center><b>Note: OneLook Thesaurus requires JavaScript.</b><br /><img src="/img/a.gif?q=omg_a_user_without_js"> If you have disabled JavaScript in your browser, please <a href=" it for this site</a> or use the <a href="/? How do I use OneLook's thesaurus / reverse dictionary? This tool lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. What are some examples? What are patterns? I'm only looking for synonyms! For some kinds of searches only the first result or the first few results are likely to be useful. Filters Your search can be refined in various ways using the filters that appear in the "Filter by..." menu on the results page. How does it work? The reverse dictionary uses a souped-up version of our Datamuse API, which in turn uses several lingustic resources described in the "Data sources" section on that page. Other ways to access this service: OneLook is a service of Datamuse.
10 Ways to Start Your Story Better The sentence you are currently reading has the potential to brand itself indelibly upon our cultural consciousness and to alter the course of Western Civilization. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But what author doesn’t dream of crafting an opening line that will achieve the iconic recognition of “Call me Ishmael,” or the staying power of “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth …”? In writing, as in dating and business, initial reactions matter. This post is by Jacob M. So it’s unfortunate that opening sentences frequently receive short shrift in writing workshops. Think of every opening line you write as a pebble tossed down a mountainside: The stone may jolt back and forth within a limited path, building up force, but the trajectory of its initial release largely determines its subsequent route. Here are 10 ways to do it. 1. This need not lead to elaborate or complex openings. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Check Out These Great Upcoming Writers’ Conferences:
Write or Die by Dr Wicked | Putting the 'Prod' in Productivity New Write or Die iOS App! Now you can Write or Die wherever you are! Works for both iPad and iPhone. New online Leaderboard for Write or Die! Over 1.5 million words written so far! VLC Control, custom playlist that works You can now use VLC in Stimulus Mode! 2.1.6 Updates Replaced countdown with more robust countdown clock.Countdown clock now animated, I will add an option to revert to a basic countdown clockMac version now has menu bar for Copying, Pasting and navigating between app windows.Added progress bar indicator for milestones in reward mode To update, revisit the original download link you received in your email and get the latest version. 2.1.3 Fixes Fixed a pernicious issue with time adjustment and wpm locking.Window positioning fixes. 2.1.2 Updates 2.1.1 Fixes Fixed autosave issuesFixed some leaderboard mathCustom background color now works, oops.Buy NowClick the question mark in the bottom right to let me know if you have any issues. Write or Die 2 Visual Stimulus Reward Mode To-Do
Short Story Ideas - Random Random Words Sometimes you don't know where to start with a story. You might have a vague idea about characters, but don't know what situation to put them in. Maybe you just have no idea at all what story to write! This generator will give you three random words, which might give you some ideas to help you develop your short story or give you a place to start. Click "Inspire Me" and get writing. CALLIHOO Writing Helps--Feelings Table Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad." Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings. SF Characters | SF Items | SF Descriptors | SF Places | SF EventsSF Jobs/Occupations | Random Emotions | Emotions List | Intensity of Feelings
Apocalypse/Mutant nickname generator This name generator will give you 10 random nicknames for either mutants or people living in a post-apocalyptic world. This generator originally started out as a mutant name generator, but most names can be used as nicknames for people living in a post-apocalyptic world as well, so it turned into this generator. Not all names will fit mutants and not all names will fit normal people caught up in a broken world, but there's plenty of names for both. The names were mainly created as descriptive or role fulfilling names. Note that while some names will fit X-Men themed mutants, many of the names were created with less fortunate mutants in mind. Quite a few of the names, especially the apocalypse-themed ones, can often be used for duos, like 'Bullet' and 'Bulletproof', 'Daydream' and 'Nightmare' or 'Ash' and 'Soot'. To start, simply click on the button to generate 10 random names.
The Seven Basic Plots The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories is a 2004 book by Christopher Booker, a Jungian-influenced analysis of stories and their psychological meaning. Booker worked on the book for 34 years.[1] Summary[edit] [edit] The meta-plot begins with the anticipation stage, in which the hero is called to the adventure to come. The Seven Basic Plots[edit] Overcoming the Monster[edit] The protagonist sets out to defeat an antagonistic force which threatens the protagonist and/or protagonist's homeland. Rags to Riches[edit] The poor protagonist acquires things such as power, wealth, and a mate, before losing it all and gaining it back upon growing as a person. Examples: Cinderella, Aladdin, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, David Copperfield.[2] The Quest[edit] The protagonist and some companions set out to acquire an important object or to get to a location, facing many obstacles and temptations along the way. Voyage and Return[edit] Comedy[edit] Tragedy[edit] Rebirth[edit] Prior work[edit] Ronald B.
How To Publish a Book & Writing tips & Five steps to follow in writing a novel & How To Publish a Book - StumbleUpon Writing a book is no easy task, it is a complex process which involves planning, discipline, and time. Writing your first book can get tricky because it is not always obvious where you should start from. Here are five steps you can follow when writing your book. 1. It’s tricky to decide exactly what you want to write about. 2. Let’s say you’ve decided to write a fantasy book. 3. Again, this isn’t easy, and most writers are unsure of exactly how the plotline will unfold until they have written the first five chapters of their novel. 4. So now that you have an idea of your fantasy world and the plot, it’s time for the hardest part: sitting down and actually writing the book. 5. The final step is proofreading and editing your book over and over again. (This is a post by our new intern Ivelina Dineva) (Image by Meul (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons)
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations is a descriptive list which was created by Georges Polti to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance. To do this Polti analyzed classical Greek texts, plus classical and contemporaneous French works. He also analyzed a handful of non-French authors. In his introduction, Polti claims to be continuing the work of Carlo Gozzi, who also identified 36 situations. Publication history[edit] “Gozzi maintained that there can be but thirty-six tragic situations. This list was published in a book of the same name, which contains extended explanations and examples. The list is popularized as an aid for writers, but it is also used by dramatists, storytellers and many others. The 36 situations[edit] Each situation is stated, then followed by the necessary elements for each situation and a brief description. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]