Back in the day, all you needed to write was a pen and some paper—or a stick and tree bark, if you want to go that far. Technically that still holds true, but why deprive yourself when there are better tools in your arsenal? Writing software can help you better plan your structure, check your grammar, format your text, and minimize distractions, among others. Here are some cool programs that can help you in writing essays or that novel, or screenplay—or at least make the job easier. Open-source word processing Maybe you’re a hard-up writer or a student trying to get your first break. In any case, you can’t afford the $300-plus ...

Spell checkers and online dictionaries have made writers’ lives easier, but they’ve also undermined the importance of knowing about language. It’s one thing to know where to put your colons and apostrophes, but knowing why English works the way it does is another. Writers who know their language intimately, as opposed to just using it well, come up with more fluid pieces that get the point across as efficiently as possible. Once in a while, it might help to turn off the spell-check and read up on style, grammar, and usage from established experts. A staple in most prominent writers’ shelves is Garner’s Modern American Usage. Now on its third edition, ...

Most of us like to think we’ve got the English language down pat. If your friends can understand you, then anyone can, right? True, but in business, the academe, and anywhere perceptions matter, you want to be more than understood—you want to impress. And that means flawless writing, among other things. A sentence checker allows you to check your text for typos, wrong tenses, and more advanced errors like subjunctives and dangling participles. While you can find most of these concepts on the web and may even know them by heart, sometimes when you’re caught up in your writing these rules just slip you by. These programs are like a second pair ...

Every family gathering that you attended, you were always able to earn the applause of everyone present who heard your fascinating stories. You felt you had so much success with your family that you decided to write your stories down and make them into a book. However, before you embark on that crusade, you must first decide on how to make your book known. This is why eBooks are becoming more and more popular everyday. Writers from all over the world will go to eBook publishers in order to distribute their work faster and easier as well as to make it more accessible. Writing a book serves no purpose at all if you are unable to have it printed and ...

Writing a children’s book seems easy: how hard can it be to write a few dozen pages, most of which are illustrated anyway? Harder than it looks, if you ask writer Susan Marie Swanson of St. Paul, Minnesota. Swanson’s latest book, The House in the Night, awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2009, took her about ten years to write, edit, and re-edit to perfection. Often, it’s because they’re so short and simple that children’s books are challenging. More than just tell stories, they should “inspire, intrigue, and uplift,” according to publisher Brett Waldman. It’s not the kind of thing you can do over a weekend. Even someone with advanced degrees can take ...