Creating: Writing Tools

Monday has always been a writing-focused day. I never want Mondays to be a how-to. I feel this is so important that I repeat it every once in a while. Each of us is unique. I've said this before, but anytime I write about what works for me, please don't ever be dismayed if my way makes you want to pull out your hair.

Sure we all know the overall guidelines, no matter what we write. How we achieve them is personal to each of us. This is why my Monday posts are often connected to writing by a thread thinner than a hair. More to give you ideas to think about that to suggest how to do anything specific. There are a million places on the web to find those things.

Whew. I feel better now :)

So today I want to talk about writing tools. Pen, pencil, paper, computer. Done.

Not so fast.

A lot of you lately have been chatting about getting some of your best ideas in the shower - with no way to write them down. But there is! Check this link. You can also find different brands at Amazon.

I've recently completed a massive edit, the details of which would bore you to tears and take a year of blog posts to place in full perspective. In the process I found an amazing tool - thanks to one of my critique partners - probably already known to most of you since I'm usually late to the party ... AutoCrit.

The final stages of an edit, when you're really looking at words and phrases and sentences, is the part that drives me straight around the bend at warp speed. AutoCrit saved my sanity. Is it perfect? No. Is it free? No. But it's as perfect as I need. And it's an excellent value. I HEART AutoCrit.

Imagination. It's magic. It's inspired. It's the stuff fiction is made of. It's a tool we all use. We need to keep it well-fed, let it play, make it work out even when it wants to be lazy. And make sure that it knows how to respond at moment's notice ... zero to sixty in .05 seconds. Yeah, that's the imagination we want to preserve.

These are certainly not all the tools in a writer's armory, but I hope there's one here that will appeal to you.

What are your favorite tools?