The Best Writing Tool You’ve Never Heard Of

By Dario Ciriello, @Dario_Ciriello 

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: If you're looking for a way to be productive without distractions, Dario Ciriello shares his experience with the Alphasmart Neo. 

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago and bemoaning my recent complete inability — or should I say lack of interest — in getting words on paper. Beyond the usual procrastination and displacement activity common to us all, I tried to defend my laziness with a number of pathetic excuses.

First, working as a freelance editor exacerbates my already dire tendency to edit as I write.

When I do try to write, everything from names to esoteric technology demands a quick detour onto the Internet, which I confess I enjoy a great deal more than writing.

5 Ways to Put the Fun Back into Writing

By Jodi Turchin, @jlturchin

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: We can all use a little pick me up in our writing from time to fun. Jodi Turchin shares five of her favorite "writing toys" that put the fun back into writing.

Jodi Turchin is a Young Adult novelist represented by Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary. She’s also a photographer, a high school English teacher, an adjunct college professor, and a former actress and director.

Website | Twitter

Take it away Jodi…

Why Writers Should NEVER Carry a Notebook

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: The right tool for the job applies to writers, too. And sometimes, the right tool can make all the difference in our productivity. Laurence MacNaughton takes his monthly place at the podium today to share one of his go-to tools for keeping track of his notes and story ideas. For all you NaNoWriMo'ers...this would be very handy come October when you're planning your November novels (and pair well with a certain plotting book, too!).  

Before I became a published author, I used to carry around a writing notebook in my back pocket. You know the kind I'm talking about: the little black book that tells the world you’re a Serious Writer. But that little notebook is a big mistake, I eventually learned. Here are three reasons why you should ditch it, and what you need to keep in your pocket instead.

5 Essential Truths You Need to Know about The Path to Publication

By Mandy Wallace, @mandycorine

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Getting published takes work, but for those starting out, knowing what to work on isn't always clear. Mandy Wallace visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on finding a clear path to your first publication.

Mandy Wallace is a writing coach who shares tips and free tools with new writers. Her blog has been named one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers three years in a row, and several of her posts have clocked over 50k social shares each. Pick up a free copy of her Free Tools for Fiction Writers. Because the writing life should be easy (and fun!).

Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Landing Your First Publication

Take it away Mandy...

The Best Tools for Indie Authors

By Dave Durden

Part of the Indie Authors Series

As indie authors, we lack the support and resources traditionally provided by a publisher.

On the one hand, we gain complete creative control over our work, and the ability to connect with our readers in the way we choose.

On the other, we find ourselves responsible for tasks outside the traditional author skillset, such as cover design and book formatting.

Why OneNote is One-Derful for Writers

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I’m always on the look out for ways to make my writing easier, and my husband recently introduced me to OneNote. He uses it to keep track of details across multiple (and complicated) projects for work, and suggested it would work just as well for novels. It's free, and works across all platforms.

He was right, and I’m loving it.

OneNote allows me to create workbooks for individual writing projects, with tabs to organize aspects of that project (displayed clearly across the top), and I can add pages as needed to further organize my information (displayed nicely in a column on the right). I can create text boxes and group them on a single page, or treat the pages like one big file. I can add text, or photos, or anything I deem needed for that topic. I can even drawn on the page if I want.

Grammarly’s Editing Software – How Helpful Is It?

By Jodie Renner, editor and author, @JodieRennerEd

Part of the Indie Authors Series

I recently decided to test out some editing software to help with a final polish of my latest writing guide, Captivate Your Readers. Since I’m a professional editor and former English teacher, I know my spelling and grammar inside out, so I was mainly looking for help with flagging lazy errors like overused or repetitive words, typos, and awkward or overly long sentences.

So far, I have checked out several editing programs, including PerfectIt, SmartEdit, and Grammarly. For today, I’ll just share my experiences with Grammarly’s editing software.

Best Non-Writing Tools for Writers

By Robert Morris

With the right tools, any craftsman can be more effective. This holds true for writers as well, and there are a plethora of writing tools out there to help us do our jobs better. But what about the non-writing tools? Robert Morris visits the lecture hall to day to share some non-writing tools that can help writers with their writing.

Robert is a freelance writer from New York working in his first YA novel. Circle him on Google+.

Take it away Robert...