The Write of Way [Work in Progress, Member Driven]

Awesome Free Software To Help You Save Time and Learn

If you're here, I'm assuming you want to improve your writing. That means improving your editing skills.

Let's put the tools in your toolbox to improve your editing. It's the world of the internet so you can learn to write well faster than any generation before you, if you use them. Every tool I'm going to recommend is free so make use of them.

It can't be said enough. Start with spelling.

Spellcheck:

It's free and fast. Use it. Don't you dare upload without it then complain nobody wants to read your work.

EditMinion:

This will pick up grammar and stylistic errors. You don't have to agree with everything it tells you but it is a good start. It's your own editor-in-a-pocket.

The Writer'sDiet Test:

A personal favorite. This will help you remove excess words, repetition and other factors that weigh down the pace of your story. Again, you may not agree with all the choices it makes but it still provides an excellent guideline to good writing. It's up to you which choices you make.

If you run any story through the above three programs, there will be far less editing left to do. While they are not perfect, they are certainly time savers and your writing will improve.

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FOR NOVELISTS AND SERIAL NOVELISTS:

Ywriter:

A wonderful free program for novelists or serial writers to keep track of all your storylines.  I used it for years. Sadly, I found it hated my Windoze 7 64bit although I am ever hopeful that a new version will come out soon.

If you can get it working for you, it's great software. It breaks your novel down into scenes and chapters. Also, it has world building capabilities for notes, locations and such so you don't have binders and sticky notes all over the place. You can name the chapters/scenes to create outlines until you get there. Everything is in one file.

{NOTE: If you are already using this software I STRONGLY suggest that you not only save files but ALSO save a second copy each week as separated RTF files. That way if anything blows up you don't lose any information. This saved my novel recently as all my notes were still there}

StoryBook:

For outlining. Handy dandy and will save tons of migraines if you have complicated plots and don't like, or can't use, ywriter. Ignore the annoying adverts or send the fellow a few dollars.

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Sorry to those whose comments poofed but I had to move this because I was getting a number of smaller stories on different topics about writing before my whole page was cluttered with them. If there was a way to save them I would have. Thank you so much for your efforts, they WERE appreciated.

That's it for now. If you found it helpful please VOTE and let me know.

If you have any questions post away!