I'm pleased to host guest author, Margaret Fieland today when she shares with us her article on "Writers Resources":
WRITERS RESOURCES
By Margaret Fieland
Back in the old days, before the internet, writers had piles of reference books on our desks, but today we have all that and more available at the click of a link. Here are some of my favorites.
The Basics
The three links no writer should be without.
Online dictionary -
http://www.dictionary.com/ - Need to look up a word? Just click on the link.
Online thesaurus –
http://www.thesaurus.com/ - A must for any writer, and a favorite of mine. The right word, here at your fingertips.
Rhyming dictionary –
http://www.rhymezone.com/ - For poets, a great online rhyming dictionary. I have a couple of print rhyming dictionaries. I could have saved myself the money. This website is much easier to use. Type the word, click ENTER, and voila!
Fancy, Schamcy
Reverse dictionary –
www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml - My mother would have loved this. Give it a definition, finds the word.
Visual Dictionary –
http://www.visual.merrscam-websites.com/ - When you want an image to go with that word.
Citation Machine –
http://www.citationmchine.net/ - Perfectly formats citations for your research paper.Choice of MLA or APA format.
Body Language, and more
Say it with gestures:
The Bookshelf Muse -
http://www.thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/ - Site features an emotion thesaurus, setting thesaurus, and much more.
An absolutely terrific resource, especially when the only way you can think of to express grief is Nonverbal Dictionary –
http://www.center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/ - Dictionary of gestures, signs, and body language cues.
Darkworld RPG Character Flaws –
www.darkworldrpg.com/lore/flaws.com - List of character flaws, from absentminded to zealot
Candles by Victoria Scent Descriptions –
http://www.candlesbyvictoria.com/ - Describes all their candle scents, but great for finding that elusive scent you need for your manuscript
Text Analysis Tools
Gender Genie –
www.bookblog.net/gender/genie.php - Based on work by Shlomo Argamon, Moshe Koppel, et al, you can paste your work in here and see if it thinks it's written by a man or a woman. Great for checking that first person narrative you hope sounds like the opposite sex.
Autocritter –
www.savvyauthors.com/vb/autocritter.php - Help finding weak or repetitive words.
Wordcounter –
http://www.wordcounter.com/ - Counts how many times you use particular words in your manuscript.
Miscellaneous
State Curriculum Standards -
http://www.educationworld.com/ - By state, by subject
Self publishing Coach –
http://www.self-publishing-coach.com/ - Shelley Hitz has some great tips on her site.
Preditors and Editors –
http://www.pred-ed.com/ - Check out publishers, agents, and more
Duotrope's Digest –
http://www.duotrope.com/ - Find that perfect venue - search by name, by category, more
Submit your website Free
Scrub the web –
http://www.scrubtheweb.com/
Search engine submitter –
http://www.searchenginesubmitter.com/
AddPro –
http://www.addpro.com/
AddMe –
http://www.addme.com/
SubmitExpress –
http://www.submitexpress.com/
Google add url –
www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
Submit your press release Free
prfocus –
http://www.profocus.com/
PressExposure –
http://www.pressexposure.com/
Prlog –
http://www.prlog.com/
I-News Wire –
http://www.i-newswire.com/
Free Press Release –
http://www.freepressrelease.com/
Author Bio:
Born and raised in New York City, Margaret Fieland has been around art and music all her life. Daughter of a painter, she is the mother of three grown sons and an accomplished flute and piccolo player. She is an avid science fiction fan, and selected Robert A. Heinlein's “Farmer in the Sky” for her tenth birthday, now long past. She lives in the suburbs west of Boston, MA with her partner and seven dogs. Her poems, articles and stories have appeared in journals and anthologies such as Main Channel Voices, Echolocation, and Twisted Tongue. In spite of making her living as a computer software engineer, she turned to one of her sons to format the initial version of her website, a clear illustration of the computer generation gap. You may visit her website,
http://www.margaretfieland.com/.
Margaret, thank you for visiting today and sharing all these valuable resources.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://guardianangelpublishing.com/pathway.htm
