Free Stuff for Writers

I, like a lot of writers, am always searching for tools to make my writing better or easier. There are a lot of resources out there, but deciding which ones are worth your while is time consuming. I have included a few of my favorites that are definitely worth checking out!

Word Count Tool

At the top of my list is word count tool. This is a free site that lets you input text into the box and then will tell you how many words you have. It's great if you don't have a word count feature on your computer or don't like the one you have. You can find it at wordcounttool.com

Spell Checker

I have always been a good speller, but there are just some words, I'm not sure about. That's where an online spell checker comes in handy. It's very comprehensive and easy to use. One feature I like about this site is that you can enter just a single word or a whole body of text up to 20,000 words!

Another good spell check worth mentioning is Orangoo. Here again, you can paste text into a box and you can even spell check a website! If you want to enter your e-mail address they will send you a free spell check report!

Online Dictionary

I have dictionaries in abundance, but instead of fumbling through pages of a print dictionary it's much easier to look up one word online. I personally like The Free Dictionary by Farlex. This site has tons of free resources and you can even customize your own page here! In addition, it has resources for a free medical, legal, and financial dictionaries plus acronyms, idioms, and thesaurus. It also has tasty bits of information like word of the day, article of the day, spelling bee, word matching, and much more!

Online Writing Assistant

Paradigm's Online Writing Assistant has great learning resources. It covers topics such as discovering, organizing, revising, editing, informal essays, thesis essays, arguementive essays, exploratory essays, and documenting. While it's a primarily a resource for students, it can provide valuable tips for those maybe wanting to explore a new genre.

Check for Plagarism

I don't believe honest writers would engage in plagarizing anyone else's work. When it does happen, it may just be a matter of not knowing how to give credit to a source, or maybe it's just very similar to another article. In any case, there are online tools to help check for plagarism. One is Article Checker which is a content comparison tool that allows you to see if there are similar articles out there. It will check it against a website with the information you give to do the comparison. It will also log your text into their system for future comparions. Another free plagarism check is plagarism checker.com. It has a box that you can put text into and it will tell you of any other plagarized or similar content. It also has a website address feature.

E-Zine Template

If you are into writing your own e-zine, but don't know where to start, look into Judy Vorfeld's EZ E-zine template. It's an easy-to-use template that has all the fields there for you to just fill in. Submit it and it will give you a nicely formatted e-zine.