“Easy reading is damn hard writing” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, Author
In Part 1 of this series, we covered some cool tools for improving writing. Here are 5 more great resources that should also help out.
6. Reduce Management Speak with Bull Fighter
Originally produced by Deloitte Consulting but now distributed as freeware, Bullfighter works with Microsoft Word, Outlook and PowerPoint to help you find and eliminate jargon in your documents.
Bullfighter includes a jargon database and an exclusive Bull Composite Index calculator that will allow you to see – in an actual window, on your PC display, live – just how bad a document can be.
7. Write Faster with Texter
This doesn’t really do much to improve the quality of your writing, but it sure makes it go much faster. This tool takes keywords you type in and expands it to full text.
By entering your most commonly-typed snippets of text into Texter, you can save countless keystrokes in the course of the day. Among other things, it works extremely well with addresses, and email signatures.
To see it in action, have a quick view of the video below…
8. Avoid Word Repetition With Word Counter
Make your writing more pleasant simply by changing up the words you use, and adding variety to it. WordCounter will count and rank the most frequently used words in any given body of text, thus pointing out potential opportunities for improvement.
You can use this to see what words you overuse (is everything a “solution” for you?) or maybe just to find some keywords from a document.
9. Learn how to write for any occasion
Compiled by Joshua Sowin this is one of the most comprehensive (yet easy to follow) guides for writing I’ve ever seen. Tackling everything from basic writing principles to different writing scenarios ( interviews, reviews, etc), this guide is one that is definitely worth bookmarking.
10. Your own passion
This is perhaps the most important tool – for without it, there is no point in writing. If it no longer feels fun… take a break, relax, and then take time to recharge and find your passion for writing again!
Bonus Tip: 37Signals talks about how buzzwords say all the wrong things
What writing tips or tools can you share? Tell us in the comments!
Liked this article? Check out part 1 of this series
[tags] writing, writer, writing tips [/tags]
some very great tips and i have saved this page.
Beside using ones own passion to driving the writing process it is important to take it to the next logical conclusion which is that writing should be driven by a personal engagement fueled by an ideal of sharing.
Nigel: Exactly – that is indeed a profound comment!
I wish that the world would be a better place for everyone that could see what is going on in the world today. So even when you think that you can’t see what is really there than then you know that it is really true.
Great article, I always keep myself looking for new tips and ways on how to improve my writing and one of my favorite mentor on learning how to write a book is Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul.