While most of the things on my list are basic, that's just me. There's an app for everything so if apps are your thing then go for it! But I don't generally do that, so I'll just be sharing the basics of what I use, why, and what you need to get out of it.
1. Writing Platform
First thing, you need something to write on. This is one of the few things that I do use on a computer, as writing a novel in a series of notebooks just to copy it onto the computer so I can share it kind of sucks.
I've gone through a ton of things to do this... And my all-time winner is Google Docs. Free, plenty of tools, easy to use, can handle my 100,000-word manuscript with minimal lag, let's me make mass changes (Change all chapter headings to a different font automatically, change every instance of Jenna to Sabrina when I changed her name, etc.), and can export your finished work in a variety of different file types. Overall, just really easy and convenient to use.
Many writing apps that you can download an app for kind of really suck, I found that they either lagged, had horrible formatting, had a word limit, or couldn't export my work. Microsoft Word was the only worthy contender I found, however, after it sometimes crashed on my tablet or refused to load my work I switched to Docs and haven't regretted it.
2. Sharing Platforms
These are amazing places where you can share your work with other writers and readers, get feedback, and also check out other people's work. I would definitely recommend these sites, especially if you're a little-known author who doesn't have a huge fanbase.
First off, we've got Wattpad. Wattpad is an all-inclusive site that you can post any kind of writing on, millions of readers go there to find new stuff, and I've had a great experience there. There is a lot of junky writing there, as anyone can make an account and put whatever they want up, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you can gain a great audience (and the good writing is all the more appreciated!)
Second, is NowNovel. This site exists purely for receiving criticism on your work. I've found that to be very helpful, and I've gotten some great insights into things that hadn't even occurred to me as a problem. Only downsides are that in order to see more than the first 2 - 3 critiques you get you need to upgrade your account with real money. But the first 2 - 3 are usually enough to tell you what you need to know! (Plus they have great character/setting building tools if you're not past that stage or want to test what you've got!)
Third and fourth, for more specific kinds of writing, we've got Cosmofunnel and WriteTheWorld. Cosmofunnel is mostly based around poetry, and they have monthly contests for poetry that you can actually win money from! WriteTheWorld is similar, except made for young writers. They have writing prompts, contests (again for real money!), and opportunities to have your work reviewed both by peers and judges in the contests. Both are great places to just put yourself out there, and maybe even make some friends.
3. Mistakes
I never knew how many grammar and spelling mistakes I made until I got Grammarly. (See more on this in the Inspiration part!) Turns out, my mind moved so fast trying to get all the words out that spelling and grammar kind of got butchered at times! Having something to tell you that you made a mistake is extremely helpful, and makes your writing much cleaner come editing time. Again though, you do have to pay to get full features, but I can catch basic grammar and spelling mistakes with the free version.
If you want extra help catching mistakes such as cliche phrases, passive voice, and adverbs, https://www.slickwrite.com/ and https://www.scribens.com/ are some good sites you can paste your writing into and get some feedback!
4. Notetaking
I do all of my notetaking the old-fashioned way... With three various notebooks, three colors of pens, and a corkboard to put the important stuff on!
I've found that this is much more helpful to me than taking notes online, both in how likely I am to look at them again and in how well I remember what I wrote down. But notetaking is very, very important in writing!
Without notes, writing can quickly become messy and inconsistent (See for reference: Warriors by Erin Hunter - Dovewing's eye color.) So having a good notetaking method is really important. Planning your story, writing down important details about your characters, keeping track of side-characters, pretty much everything you do your story can be made easier with notes.
Also, if you're a chaotically organized person like me, you might want a folder... (By chaotically organized, I mean my papers are spread around randomly and look like a mess but they all make perfect sense to me. Except people don't realize that, and your "mess" is fair game to touch and look at because there's "no order" meaning I "won't notice if they're touched". So get a folder, nobody will ruin your chaotic order or worry about why you have pages of notes on killing people...)
5. This Thing That Nobody Seems To Have Thought Of...
Quick disclaimer: I've never actually done this yet, I'm still learning, but it's one of my better ideas!
This genius idea is lucid dreaming. That's controlling your dreams. So I had the awesome idea... Why not lucid dream scenes from your book? Talk to your characters? Even better, apparently it's possible to ask a person in your dream to become lucid and act on their own, so you could (hopefully) have actual real conversations with your characters!
Is it just me, or is that the coolest thing you've ever heard? I've never personally done this because I'm still trying to figure out how to do the thing, but from what I've heard that's all completely possible.
Considering this works, this could be my favorite tool on this list.
Here's a cool site and YouTube channel all about lucid dreaming!
6. YouTube
First, use this wisely people!
Second, YouTube or the internet are the best ways to learn. You can learn literally anything from the internet, and that is a very important tool.
As for writing, there are a lot of writing channels that are extremely helpful... Here are my favorites and why.
- Jenna Moreci - I love this channel, just for the blunt reality checks. Sarcasm is my favorite, and Jenna is the sarcasm queen! (Only complain is some of the language... Be aware of this!)
- Ellen Brock - What's more helpful than a writer telling you what they know? An editor telling you exactly what makes some books good, some books suck, and what's an instant red-flag to editors.
- Vivien Reis - Helpful, great advice, and interesting! Not to mention the dogs in the background of some videos! I love this channel; one of my go-tos when I feel stuck.
- Nour Zikra - Don't have the time or attention span to watch a 10-min. video? This is the place you should be... Videos ranging from 2 - 5 minutes that cover just as much as everyone else's 10 - 15-minute videos! Not to mention the writing humor that you can't find elsewhere on YouTube...
- Merphy Napier - Yet another point of view on books... We've got authors, editors, and then readers. Merphy is an entertaining reader who reviews books, shares her opinion on covers, tropes, and all else that goes into a book. As a writer, hearing what people want to read is gold.
7. Inspiration
My favorite inspiration tools are Spotify and images. Playlists for each book I have, pictures of characters and settings and anything that reminds me of my book, all those things help me stay motivated and inspired to write. Because everything else here is worthless without the actual ability to write and enjoy it...
Find what inspires you, whatever it might be. Reading, music, singing, pictures, taking a walk, talking about your book, having a lucid dream, the possibilities are endless!
Another thing that I recently found that motivates me to write more would be Grammarly... What? How does a grammar checker motivate you?! Well, at the end of each week it tells you some statistics... Such as how many words you wrote that week, how many unique/unusual words you used, and what percentage of users you beat on word count and quality. Apparently, I write 200,000 words a week on average... Use more unique words than 99% of people who use Grammarly, and my most common mistake is unnecessary epilepsies... (<--) And being the person I am, I want to beat my progress every week! Which I find very motivating, both to writing my book and completing essays in school.
Another thing that I recently found that motivates me to write more would be Grammarly... What? How does a grammar checker motivate you?! Well, at the end of each week it tells you some statistics... Such as how many words you wrote that week, how many unique/unusual words you used, and what percentage of users you beat on word count and quality. Apparently, I write 200,000 words a week on average... Use more unique words than 99% of people who use Grammarly, and my most common mistake is unnecessary epilepsies... (<--) And being the person I am, I want to beat my progress every week! Which I find very motivating, both to writing my book and completing essays in school.
Those are the big things I've found helpful to my writing experience, and really they're the only necessities! Sure, other things are cool, but they also clog up your time... What's your experience on these subjects? Any opinions either agreeing or disagreeing with me? I'd love to hear them! Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment