Hi Folks,
Note: This post was originally scheduled for 1/10/2014. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now.
Instead of a regular blog post I thought I’d toss out this list of URLs this time. I’ve found all of these useful at one time or another, and I still refer to many of them regularly. However, the presence of these URLs on this list does not necessarily constitute my endorsement or recommendation except as noted below.
I chose not to make the links live. Many email programs will kick out an email that contains more than a few links. You’ll have to copy/paste these URLs into the address bar at the top of your browser. (Note that some of the URLs wrap to the next line. Be sure to copy/paste the whole thing.)
Once you’ve done that I suggest you bookmark those that interest you so you can refer back to them quickly. I hope you find this list of use.
First, I am a professional fiction writer as well as a copyeditor. For details, or just to learn what comprises a good copy edit, please visit Copyediting. Here’s the rest of the list.
Dictionaries
Acronyms — http://www.allacronyms.com/
American Slang — http://onlineslangdictionary.com/
British Slang — http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/
Dictionary — http://dictionary.reference.com/
Sex Dictionary — http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/
Semantic Reference — http://semanticreference.com/
Spanish Dictionary — http://spanish.dictionary.com/
Spanish Slang — http://www.languagerealm.com/spanish/spanishslang.php
Thesaurus — http://thesaurus.com/
Translator — http://translate.reference.com/
Urban Dictionary — http://www.urbandictionary.com/
Converters
Colors and Others — http://web.forret.com/
Future/Past Calendar — http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/
Keyboard Shortcuts PC to Mac or Mac to PC — http://myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/ultimate-switcher-guide-windows-pc-to-mac-keyboard-shortcuts
Length — http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/LengthConverter.html
Metric — http://www.worldwidemetric.com/measurements.html
Mileage — http://www.randmcnally.com/mileage-calculator.do
Temperature — http://fahrenheittocelsius.com/
Reference, Research or Interesting
Arizona Master Gardener Manual — http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/
Arizona Sunrise/Sunset — http://www.sunrisesunset.com/usa/Arizona.asp
Cherokee FAQs — http://cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.aspx
Drive-In Theaters — http://www.drive-ins.com/
Extensive Collection of Quotations — http://www.drmardy.com/dmdmq/
McSweeney’s — http://www.mcsweeneys.net/
NOAA National Weather Service — http://www.weather.gov/climate/
Preditors & Editors — http://pred-ed.com/
Personality Types — http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/JTypesResult.aspx
Shakespearean Insults — http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quotes/shakespeareinsults.html
Snopes — http://snopes.com/ (biased politically but can be useful)
Stupid Plot Tricks — http://www.sff.net/paradise/overlord.html
The Bible on One Page — http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm
The Gun Zone — http://www.thegunzone.com/clips-mags.html
Time Dilation — http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/HEP/QuarkNet/time.html
TV Tropes — http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
Vietnam Virtual Wall — http://www.virtualwall.org/
Warp Drive — http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive
Worldwide Sunrise/Sunset — http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html
Writers Market — http://www.writersmarket.com/
Writers’ Resources and Tools
Book Trailer — http://kingdomelectlady.hubpages.com/hub/Create-Your-Own-Book-
Trailer-Free
CopyBlogger Media (Marketing) — http://my.copyblogger.com/
Free Word Processor — http://www.jarte.com/
Free Word Processor — http://www.openoffice.org/
Links to Delete Accounts — http://justdelete.me/
Microsoft Word Products — http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/
Newsletter — http://chopeclark.com/
Writer as Publisher — http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/ and Think Like a Publisher
Hashtags 1 — http://publicityhound.com/shop/how-to-use-hashtags-the-new-search-tool
Hashtags 2 — http://writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/008264_11202013.html
Security for your PC or Mac — http://lojack.absolute.com/en/persistent
Stop Smoking Resource — http://www.whyquit.com/
Writing Software — http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html?yWriter5
Professional & Regional Writing Organizations
Arizona Mystery Writers — http://www.arizonamysterywriters.com/
Horror Writers of America — http://horror.org/
International Thriller Writers — http://thrillerwriters.org/
Mystery Writers of America — http://mysterywriters.org/
Novelists Incorporated — http://www.ninc.com/
Pikes Peak Writers — http://www.pikespeakwriters.com/
Romance Writers of America— http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=521
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America — http://www.sfwa.org/
Sisters in Crime — http://www.sistersincrime.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=2
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators — http://www.scbwi-az.org/
Society of Southwestern Authors — http://www.ssa-az.org/
St. Louis Writers’ Guild — http://www.stlwritersguild.org/
Western Writers of America — http://westernwriters.org/
Subsidy/POD Publishing
Compare Subsidy/POD Publishers — http://www.writersweekly.com/pod-price-comparison.php
Note: I vehemently disagree with Booklocker about CreateSpace. And especially in this wonderful new world of indie publishing, I also do NOT recommend you use ANY subsidy publisher. However, if you insist on not doing things yourself, I decided to leave this entry in this post.
If you know of any great writers’ resources you’d like to share, please share it in a comment below.
Finally, you can find numerous great writers’ resources in the left sidebar on my website under Writers’ Resources.
That’s it for now. Until next time, keep writing!
Harvey
I am a professional fiction writer. If you’d like to get writing tips several times each week, pop over to my Daily Journal and sign up. In the alternative, you can also click the Pro Writer’s Journal tab on the main website at HarveyStanbrough.com.
What a tremendous selection of resources, Harvey. Thank you. If you don’t mind, I would like to offer some cautions about using any translating sites. You mention two–a Spanish dictionary and a translate reference. Many times the translation is a literal one, not in context. When at all possible, try to seek out someone of native or near-native proficiency (like me) who knows both context and culture. Just as in American-English, certain terms might not have been in use in the time a writer is writing about. All languages evolve. Therefore, a direct translation is often off-base and will cause the text to read off-base as well. I have often checked the site out for the one other language I know well and have come back with total gibberish. I have checked out the other language I know somewhat and have been appalled by what is returned as a translation. One client I was editing had used several German expressions and I asked her where in the world she had come up them. It was from the http://translatereference site. Here’s a good (but not absolute) way to help confirm what you’re getting as a “translation”. Most of these services work both ways: Translate English to German, for example, and also German to English. Write down what you get at your first attempt; then, go back on to the site and enter the German, French, whatever expression THERE, and see if it translates back to your original meaning. Most of the time it won’t. If you are starting a resource list, I’ll volunteer to be your literate, educated French resource (read, write, speak, comprehend, and even edit). I have a friend who could be your German resource, but I’ll need to ask him first.
Hi Michaele,
Thanks for the comment. Of course, you’re right about the translation sites. They are only for quick reference and, of course, should be used only with a side order of common sense and a feel for the language. 🙂 I appreciate the offer, but I’m not officially starting a resource list. This was simply a listing of those resources I’ve found useful as a writer/editor/publisher over the past few years. Those who remember my old website will recall many of these from a sidebar item there. 🙂
Harvey
This is a great list of resources for writers. Thank you for posting it. I would like to recommend Dict.org, and in particular, the Moby Thesaurus which is part of it. It is a fantastic source of synonyms. Also anyone doing historicals should know about Google’s n-gram graphing tool https://books.google.com/ngrams. Type in a word and it will tell you when it was in use and how frequently it occurred.
Thanks Joan!
Harvey
Hi Harvey!
Thanks for the list. Bookmarked a few new ones!
Have you had a chance to use powerthesaurus.org? It seems to be a new online thesaurus. I find it user-friendly and very comprehensive resource.
Hi Andrew,
Not yet, but I’ll take a look.
Thanks!
Harvey
Hey there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot
quicker then most. Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest price?
Thanks, I appreciate it!