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My Favourite Creative Writers Resources

typist typing on an old typewriter - illustrating an article about My Favourite Creative Writers Resources Do we need a lot of ‘stuff’ in order to write?

Well no, we don’t.

We could easily get going with a pencil and paper, but there are some things I would hate to do without.

I’m sharing my own favourite writer’s resources here and I am sure you will find them as helpful as I do.

COMPUTER

This is first on my absolutely necessary list.

I don’t have any romantic illusions about writing in longhand, or on old-fashioned typewriters, not even an Stephen King’s famous old corona.

The editing and rewriting process was much more difficult without the ability to delete, cut and paste etc.

I would much prefer to spend my time writing.

I use a laptop for creative writing and a desktop for writing articles and editing the images for my websites.

I don’t think I could produce even half as much work as I do now if I had to use a pen and paper.

GRAMMAR/SPELLING/PUNCTUATION

I would be the last person to call myself a grammar Nazi – to me story is everything.

However, that doesn’t mean we should be so careless that we turn our readers off  – with pages containing so many errors that the stories are unreadable.

We all make mistakes, even grammar Nazis.

But, if you are serious about your writing, you will do your absolute best to get your grammar, punctuation and spelling right.

If you want to learn more about grammar I highly recommend The Oatmeal.’ They provide lots of information on grammar, spelling and punctuation.

SOFTWARE

FINAL DRAFT

I use Final Draft software for script writing. It was really easy to learn and it does everything a script writer could possibly want.

Those of you who write scripts will already know they have to be formatted in a very particular way.

Before I had Final Draft I had to use tabs and spacing to manually format each and every one of my script pages.

This was a time-consuming nuisance. These days, I really appreciate being free to focus on the script.

Final Draft is also the industry standard and so you can be sure that your work is formatted correctly and is of professional standard.

SCRIVENER

Scrivener is a very affordable piece of software and a fantastic writing tool.

It has loads of helpful features like my own favourite cork board outline layout which enables you to drag and drop chapters in and out as you wish.

The best thing about it is being able to see all the chapters, together with a mini-synopsis of your novel, on one screen.

This makes it much easier to structure your novel. Anything that makes this easier has my vote!

You can choose to write in full screen with no distractions if you prefer, and I find this extremely helpful when I really need to focus.

Scrivener is particularly useful for self-publishers as you can choose the output.

For example, you can choose to output in the correct format for publishing to Kindle or any of the other online outlets.

NOTES AND RESEARCH

EVERNOTE

I am also an Evernote devotee and for me its main purpose is making my writing life easier.

I love having everything in one place and I use Evernote all the time.

I have designated a notebook for every writing project with notes on character, research, locations, plot points etc.

You can attach documents to notebooks, insert images link to websites and much more.

It also has easy search options and tags so you can find anything you want in seconds.

In addition, I have Evernote notebooks for each of my websites and I find it is a great way for keeping track of my posts and pages, as well as for being a great planning tool for future posts.

Recently I have started using it for organizing my home life as well .

I even have a garden notebook to keep track of my plants and progress and make notes of the jobs I need to do for each season.

Since I also blog about my gardening over on my www.gracelikestogarden.com website it is essential for me to keep track of all my gardening notes and lists.

Evernote has a huge range of functions and is useful for all sorts of people and purposes.

For a writer with a range of projects it is one of the best ways I know for keeping it all under control and leaving you, the writer, free to get on with the writing.

There is a free version available which is great but if you want to avail of enhanced facilities you can upgrade to their premium version.

 

P.S. In the interests of transparency please note that some of the links on my favourite writer’s resources page are affiliate links. This does not cost you anything and I will earn a small commission if you decide to purchase using one of these links.

These small commissions help me towards the cost of providing all the information and services I provide for free on this site. I am only affiliated to products I use personally and which I genuinely find very useful. I would absolutely never recommend any product I do not use myself.

 

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2 Responses to My Favourite Creative Writers Resources

  1. Dawn Marie Flores-Rambo October 25, 2014 at 8:15 am #

    Dear Grace,
    Thank you, Grace for gathering all this information, assimilating it then making it all available. As a stream of consciousness writer who is in dire need of assistance; I am grateful for everthing you have provided. I am begining my fooray into the constructs of writing using the exercises here on the site. I feel the flutter of creative energy moving about me already as I write my comment.
    Thank you again and happy writing!!!
    Dawn

    • Grace October 25, 2014 at 12:37 pm #

      HI Dawn,
      What a lovely comment. Thanks so much and I am so glad to have helped you. Keep in touch and let me know how that lovely flutter of creative energy is working for you.
      Best of luck with all your writing.
      Grace

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