Five Writing Tools to Solve Every Writing Problem

Posted By Alison Maney

BreakingModern – If you’re a writer, and your name isn’t Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, or Danielle Steel, you’ve undoubtedly suffered from a malady commonly known as “writer’s block.” It can cause a minor hiccup in your daily routine aka that challenging email you have to write. Or it can derail your career for years. Don’t let writer’s block ruin your life.

Problem: You don’t know what to write about.
Solution: Creativity Portal Prompt Generator

When it comes to writing, as with any other art form, the only key to success is practice, practice, practice! However, sometimes you sit there staring at a pulsing cursor, miserably unable to think of anything to write about. If you don’t want to write another Ode to Writer’s Block, this prompt generator shoots you a quick, one-sentence suggestion that can get your juices flowing. Examples include: “If your phone rang right now, who would you want it to be?” and “Write a rhyming poem about your car.”

Use this when you need to meet your daily word count but have no idea what to write about. It’s kid-friendly, too, so feel free to suggest the generator to budding novelists.

Problem: You need to organize your ideas.
Solution: XMind

So you need to brainstorm that new story idea, but you don’t own a whiteboard big enough for the flow chart you need to create. Never fear — popular “mind mapping software” XMind lets you draw out those big complicated thought webs. You can even save them to Evernote or as a pdf in case you need to reference your plans on the go. The app has many functions and options, but it’s intuitive enough to stay out of your way when you need to focus on building your ideas.

Use this at the beginning of projects, especially large ones, and to organize your thoughts. It’s also great for group projects — when you collaborate with others, XMind can help link ideas from multiple sources and keep everyone on the same page.

Problem: You’re easily distracted.
Solution: Write or Die

Not for the faint of heart, Write or Die will scare you into writing, sounding alarms whenever you pause too long. You can even choose a nasty image to pop up on your screen (spiders, creepy critters, etc.) if you dawdle. You can choose “Disable Surrender” or “Typewriter Mode” to take away your ability to delete or use commands. It’s a race to the finish, no brakes (or breaks)! You can even choose “Kamikaze Mode,” which starts deleting your work if you’re a slowpoke. How’s that for motivation?

This website is best if you just need to get all of your thoughts on paper fast. If you pause to review, though, you could get more than your fair share of nasty noises.

Problem: You just can’t get started.
Solution: Written? Kitten!
Full disclosure: I’m using this right now.

Sometimes there’s nothing like a little positive reinforcement to keep you going — even when the reward is something small, like, say, a cute picture of a kitten (or a puppy or a bunny or any subject of your choice). For every 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 words you write on Written? Kitten!, you earn a “fresh” kitten that appears on the side of your screen. Not only does this activate the reward centers of your brain, it breaks down your work down into manageable chunks.

This is especially good for long, intimidating projects. If you just can’t bring yourself to start that epic honor’s thesis, this website is a great way to edge yourself into it. Plus, who doesn’t like kittens?

Problem: You’re too wordy.
Solution: Hemingway Editor

We’re all guilty of writing long complicated sentences or using unnecessarily complex words, even when we’re trying to keep things short and sweet. Named after Ernest Hemingway, the master of succinct sentences, the Hemingway Editor app highlights passages that go on for too long or contain common errors. For those of you who often forget to write in “active voice” (aka the use of action verbs instead of words like “is” and “have been”), Hemingway also highlights adverbs and passive voice in your work.

Use this app when you need to write as clearly as possible, or when you need to keep things brief. It’s especially good for academic papers — teachers love them some clear writing.

So go on, get to work!

For BMod, I’m Alison Maney.

All Screenshots: BMod Staff