The Top 5 Tools Every Writer Should Use

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First, I'd like to announce the winner of the Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance Giveaway...

KO!

Now back to our originally scheduled Friday Fives.



In every writer's life, a bit of research must fall. Yours truly isn't an exception. Where do I go for all my researcherly needs?

  1. Google by far. I just type in a question and bam! instant answers. Yeah, sometimes I get some hits that are wicked off the mark, but 99% of the time Google gives me answers.
  2. Wikipedia. Great for fact-checking, Wikipedia picks up where The World Book left off*.
  3. Naming the World. The resource used for monthly writing workshops at Newtonville Books, I've gotten a lot of prewriting and scene work done with the exercises from this book.
  4. Guide to Literary Agents, Writer's Market, and QueryTracker. I'll be swimming in all three of these as the summer pushes it's way into fall. These are great for all things literary agent-y.
  5. Google Earth. One of my in-development projects takes place far away from Boston, in a place I've never visited. This application is great in learning about my character's neighborhood and what his school grounds look like.

Now it's your turn: am I missing some awesome-tastic research tool? Tell below or join us at Paper Hangover!
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Last.fm hit of the day: Horror Movie Baby by Texas Drag Queen Massacre



* For the record, I miss my parents' set of World Book Encyclopedias. Yes, they're from 1978 but they had color plates of all the birds of the world. Young Alicia at some point thought she was an orinthologist.