10 Top Resources for First-time Fiction Writers
Hi Steemit community! Thank you for the warm welcome. This tribe is wonderful, and I want to ensure I contribute to it as much as I can.
Here are some of the resources that helped me write my novel Ahe’ey. I also include useful resources for cover, logo and website designs.
1 - Scrivener
Scrivener is a word processor and project management tool. It is particularly useful for long texts such as novels and non-fiction books. I recommend Scrivener if your document is larger than ten thousand words. I like the functionality of this app, in particular, the tagging as it helps me keep track of characters, locations and plotlines. Scrivener’s rich feature set helped me keep track of my four main characters.
2 - Grammarly
Grammarly's proofreading and plagiarism-detection functionality are extremely useful. This app won’t replace a solid human copyeditor, but it will help speed up the initial proofreading and editing rounds. Grammarly checks spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. It also searches online for similar text to ensure your writing is unique.
3 - Hemingway
Hemingway is another proofreading tool that helps you achieve clearer and simpler writing. It makes your writing easy to understand. The app highlights long, complex sentences and common mistakes. It’s particularly good at catching wordy sentences and the use of too many adverbs. Use Hemingway as a resource, but don’t let it take control over your writing style. The software won’t recognise the unique writing voices that make a great book.
4 - Speak it!
Speak it! is a text to speech app that will read your writing out loud. I use it as a proofreading tool as my ears can spot issues that my eyes have missed.
5 - 99Designs
99Designs is a great site to run a book cover design contest. I love crowdsourcing because it allows me to pick the best ideas and then combine them into a unique design. You can also use this site to commission logos and website designs.
6 - Fiverr
Check out Fiverr, if sites like 99Designs are beyond your budget. I use it for small design and proofreading jobs, voice over recordings, and other random tasks. I’ve recently started to work with a couple of people on Fiverr. If things continue to go well, I will refer their services on Steemit.
7 - Odyssey Podcast
I recommend the Odyssey podcast for sci-fi & fantasy writers like me. It’s free and worth your time. This podcast provides excerpts from writers' lectures given at the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Odyssey is a highly respected initiative for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.
8 - John Truby’s Story for Novel Class
This class is an excellent introduction to the structural elements of a novel, character and plot. I also find John’s comprehensive screenwriting classes a great resource for writing inspiration.
9 - Weebly
Weebly is a free and very easy to use a drag-and-drop website builder. I have used it to create my website. It is also a web-hosting service; I store all the photos I share on Steemit on my Weebly website.
10 - 500px
500px is a photography community site filled with inspiring and free photography. A perfect place to find creative commons images to complement your writing.
What are your favourite resources? Leave a comment and share them with the community.
On Sunday, I will release Ahe’ey part 7 – Water Angels. We are just a couple of days away from a major revelation about Gabriel’s character. Tomorrow, I will be releasing the part 2 of the Ahe’ey audiobook for those who prefer to listen to the novel.
A special thank you to Eric Vance Walton who is leading the way for Novel writers here on Steemit. He is a very talented and successful fiction writer and was wonderfully supportive from the moment I joined the platform. Check out his beautiful work.
Have a great weekend,
Jamie
This is awesome @jamielefay! Thank you for posting these. I will definitely be using some of these in the future.
Thank you. J.
Didn't know about Grammarly - thanks, that looks helpful.
I used Scrivener for a while but, eventually, decided that it was too complex and reverted back to plain markdown files. I keep track of those using git version control, which is very powerful if you already know how to use it and overkill if you don't.
The other tools that I find really helpful are name generators - I wrote a post about how those can help here.
The Hemingway app is definitely helpful but, if you want to improve as a writer, I think it makes sense to put your last draft in to it, not your first draft. Learning to write means working out what you can remove, while keeping your prose stylish and meaningful. Outsourcing that to a website can give you pointers on how that's done, but you also need to know how to do it by yourself.
Agreed. J.
Excellent tools here - I use Grammarly and Hemingway daily. Another resource I recommend to every writer within about 13 seconds of meeting them... Focus@Will. I use it 100% of the time when I'm writing - whether there's noise around me (5 dogs, 2 cats, 15 chickens) or not. The music has no lyrics, which is huge for my concentration and creativity. You can choose a bunch of different styles and tempos. My favorite is Alpha Chill at medium tempo. There's a free subscription level (although I upgraded years back) - definitely worth a shot especially for any writers who are particularly sensitive to ambient sounds.
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. I love writing to music J.
Hi jamielefay
Interesting article
Do you have any tips or sites that can just help to improve writing small articles, like the ones we post on steemit.
Any help will be apreciated
Hi @rymow, many of the tips apply to small articles. I'll will try to write another article soon with more tips. J.
Great post and i am sure many writers will find these tips very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure. J.
Very informative article. I also just want to thank you for following me.
My pleasure, J.
This is great. I'm keep to get a new cover for my book, I'll try 99Designs.
Remember to provide plenty of feedback and guidance to the designers. I spent some time inviting top designers to join my contest; this led to a huge boost in the quality of the output.
thanks
Nice collection of resources. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure!
Thanks for this very useful writing tools. I think its worth a try.
My pleasure.
Thank you for this post!
My pleasure.