Ah, the internet. What did we even do before it existed? I may be a bookworm, but I am still eternally grateful for the internet and the many benefits it brings. Whether you’re writing a book or working on a school assignment, these websites will make your life infinitely easier.
The Hemingway Editor
I could sing praises from the rooftops for this one! Named, of course, for Ernest Hemingway, this website helps you achieve his clear, bold style (or at least attempt to get close to it). Just copy and paste your section of writing into the page, and it will grade you on readability and clarity. It also highlights things like adverbs, passive voice, and other stylistic habits you probably want to avoid. It’s a good way to know if something actually makes sense outside of your head, without forcing your friends to read every single thing you write.
Evernote
So, I love the idea of being the author who always carries around a notebook to write down inspiration and ideas. But in reality? That just doesn’t work for me (RIP all the journals I bought for that exact purpose). So instead I use Evernote. There is a paid version, but the free one allows you to have it sync across two devices, and since I just have my phone and my computer, that’s all I need. You can have multiple virtual “notebooks” so you can sort your notes instead of them being a big jumble, and everything is searchable. I also have the Google Chrome browser extension so when I’m on a webpage that I want to remember, I can easily save it to Evernote for later. There are a million other things you can do with Evernote that I’m still discovering, but at its most basic, it’s an easy place to gather all my thoughts and then access them from my phone or computer.
Grammarly
I like to think I’m pretty good at grammar, but it never hurts to have backup. Grammarly is a browser extension that basically acts like the spell and grammar check you have on Word, but for when you’re on the internet. Whether you’re writing an email, filling out an application, or just updating Facebook, it alerts you to misspelled words, grammar mistakes, and other syntactical suggestions. If spelling or grammar is a weak point for you, this is definitely a must-have. They also recently added a feature so that it plays nice with Google Docs, so that if you use that as your primary word processing program, you can have the full power of Grammarly behind you also.
OneLook
Don’t you hate it when there’s a word on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t quite think of it? Banish that feeling forever with this reverse dictionary. Simple type in a key phrase in the definition of the word you’re looking for, and it pulls up a long list of potential words for you to choose from.
oTranscribe
Between working for my college’s newspaper and now doing interviews for my blog, I have spent a large chunk of my life transcribing interviews so I can pull quotes. How I wish I had found oTranscribe earlier! Instead of switching back and forth between Word and whatever you use to record, this allows you to do it all in one webpage. Play, pause, fast forward, and rewind without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. You can also easily add timestamps to keep you oriented during the interview.
There you have it! I hope these resources are as helpful to you as they have been for me.
What are your favorite websites? Have you used any of these before? Let me know in the comments!
Featured image by Mimi Thian
I love Grammarly! I’ll check out the others, thanks for sharing about some of the online tools you use!
Anytime! And yes, Grammarly is the best!