ipod shuffle: 7 Online Resources To Help You Improve Your Writing

Although language relies on certain rules, a story requires more than simple definitions to unfold. Look at this example to see how a simple sentence can be rewritten word by word to turn into a whole paragraph. Certainly this is not art and it contains a considerable amount of redundant and superficial information. However, its creation [...]

Although language relies on certain rules, a story requires more than simple definitions to unfold. Look at this example to see how a simple sentence can be rewritten word by word to turn into a whole paragraph.

Certainly this is not art and it contains a considerable amount of redundant and superficial information. However, its creation did require imagination. The thing is, whether you’re writing a diary, a blog or a column for a magazine, writing remains a creative process.

Now creativity can be an issue. Among writers a complete lack of ideas is called writers block. But most often it is not that bad and all that is missing are the delicate details. The internet actually is a valuable source for ideas. On the other hand, people who are creative are not necessarily great writers. They may be lacking the basic knowledge of how to properly construct and present a story. The following tools should prove very helpful in releasing mental breaks and becoming a better writer.

1. StumbleUpon

Stumble Upon is a great place to start in case you have no idea what to write about, since you can randomly stumble recommended websites. When you need cues for an existing story idea though, you can filter for a specific topic by searching for keywords. Extensions for both IE and Firefox are available.

2. 911 Writers Block

This tool is provided by the WEbook publishing company. It is intended to overcome blocks in fiction writing. There are nine different dials ranging from settings, characters, entrances, over verbs or how to kill a character to endings. You can browse through all suggestions and save the ones you like best. Later you can view all your saved cues and delete ones you are not going to use.

3. one word

If you cannot get your head around a story or a topic, give it a break. But rather than switching on the TV or taking a nap, you should give your brain a refreshing workout. At ‘one word’ you will be given a word and sixty seconds to write about it. If you’re bold enough, you can submit your thoughts or read what others had to say.

Unfortunately, the words are not random, new ones are added every couple of days, and the purpose of the site in fact is to collect spontaneous thoughts on various topics. Nevertheless, the 60 seconds timer in combination with a book to select a random word will work just as well. Just don’t submit it. But keep writing!

4. Cliché Finder

A source for overused metaphors and as such nothing that you would want to overuse. However, you may discover just the right expression to get a message across.

5.Language is a Virus

When required to complete a piece, don’t ever waste time not writing. Instead, try to find more and more random inspiration. One great resource is “Language is a Virus” which provides some interesting tools, for example the “Haiku-a-Tron” pictured on the left, a “Slice-n-Dice” text cutter, the “word by word (nonsense)” translator, a character name generator, and a number of articles and further resources.

Whatever you do, if you absolutely cannot continue writing, at least read or try to gather inspiration in the lively world.

6. Better writing

Critical ingredients to good writing are spelling, grammar, and correct use of words. Oxford Dictionaries’ website AskOxford has a very valuable section dedicated to better writing.

7. UsingEnglish

While it is difficult to get everything right even for native speakers, it is a huge challenge to master the English language as a writer when it is your second language. Sometimes it is necessary to go back, recapture, and simply study the language. UsingEnglish can provide great assistance in finding English idioms, understand phrasal verbs or studying irregular verbs.

For more resources regarding the English language I will refer you to a post from earlier this year by Shankar: 30+ Online Resources to Expand your English Vocabulary.

What do you do to overcome a block to your flow of writing? Do you have any online gems to share?