Tools For Writers

Here are some great tools for writers that I use on a regular basis, this page will be forever expanding, so please leave me any sites you may use in the comments or Tweet me.

Read-o-Meter:

Let your readers know how long your blog post will take to read. This tool lets you copy and paste text and generates a reading time based on an average of 200 words-per-minute. The image below shows the read time for my post about why YouTube has become so popular.

Avoid Cliches

They come off as lazy, and reek of unoriginal thinking. Many readers will be put off by cliches in blog posts, articles, or other professional writings, including emails. This tool will scan text for any cliches and you can remove them from your writing ASAP.

The Hemingway Online Editing Application

"Hemingway makes your writing bold and clear. It's like a spellchecker, but for style. It makes sure that your reader will focus on your message, not your prose". HemingwayApp.com checks for passive voice, formatting, adverb use, and much, much more.

TitleCase

Not sure which words in your title need to be capitalized? Enter text into TitleCase and this online app will correct any mistakes.

Headline Analyzer

The Headline Analyzer will produce a quick, easy-to-read report on headline choices for your next article, blog post, or essay. This program scored my headline for Who is The Most Important Female Character In Gaming History a 78 out of 100. As you can see, this app lets users customize headlines and subheadings for their writing.

How Long Will It Take Me To Write A Book?

Answer a few simple questions about your writing habits, and this free tool from New York Times bestselling author Jerry Jenkins will provide you with a breakdown of the time it should take to finish your book. This image is from sample answers I gave to the questions on this site.

Comments

Who Is The Most Important Female Character In Video Game History?

Estimated Read Time: 1 Minute 53 Seconds During 1996, arguably one of the best years in gaming history, many games and characters made their way to our television and computer screens. Some of these games and characters carved out extraordinary legacies within the gaming world and one of them should be considered the most important female character of all time. Who Is The Most Important Female Character In Gaming History? Lara Croft, Tomb Raider , was a gaming and cultural phenomenon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. This kick-ass character encouraged many young female gamers to try the medium and a lot of these female gamers have stuck around for the long haul. Check out the next comic or gaming convention near you and it can be guaranteed that there will be at least one Lara Croft in the crowd. No other female character in gaming has been as popular with females for longer. Is Lara Croft Just A Sex Symbol? Although many observers may argue that he...

Why Has YouTube Become So Popular?

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes 44 Seconds YouTube has become a cultural phenomenon with millions of hours of videos watched and uploaded on a weekly basis. Many YouTube creators have made a career out of producing content for this massive website. This article will use sociological theories to explain the popularity of this video-sharing website. Encoding A YouTube Video For Different Audience Types Hall, claims that “using recognized codes and conventions and by drawing on audience expectations, the producer can position the audience and create a certain amount of agreement on what the code (YouTube video in this case) means” (Hall: 1980: 128). This entails that a producer of a YouTube video can “position” the YouTube videos are open to different interpretations depending on cultural background, preferred reading of the medium and the reader’s individual circumstances. An example of interpreting videos on YouTube would be if a YouTube user were to post a video of hims...

Propaganda In Hollywood: Case Studies

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes 20 Seconds Propaganda originates from the Latin “Congregatiode Propaganda Fide” , meaning to "spread the faith". The contemporary definition of the word has roots as far back as World War One when the term became associated with political messages. Propaganda has been defined in the modern sense by Jowett and O’Donnell as, “the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist” (2006: 163). The seven elements of propaganda contain the ability of propaganda to tap into emotions , source credibility , opinion leaders, using music or other media as a way to trigger an irrational response, group norms, visual symbols and the language used when engaging in propaganda. A modern propagandist can gain access to many sources of mass media, including television, movies, and radio, not to mention social ...

How Does A Story Make The News? Who Defines The News We See?

Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes 24 Seconds The news is defined by Mitchell (2007) as any “new information or information on current events that can be presented by print media (Newspapers, magazines), broadcast media (Television, radio), Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience”. The news that consumers receive has gone through a process of news selection, essentially deeming what constitutes news and what does not. How Does A Story Become Newsworthy? Galtung and Ruge (1973) have provided ten key qualities that a story should have to become newsworthy . These ten criteria are: Timeliness ( frequency) of the story, for example, a story must be within the news cycle and the information is new or recently released Clarity or unambiguousness Proximity , or familiarity, of a story with regards to geographic and cultural proximity Significance or amplitude of the story, Consonance (meets expectations or predictions) Novel...

How Do Sources Influence Media Content?

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes 36 Seconds “The relationship between journalists and sources has been linked to a tug-of-war where each is trying to manage the other to his or her own advantage” (Tully, 2008: 23). In order to produce a news story, journalists must rely on a source for information and clarity of the story. Otherwise, the news story would become non-objective, unclear and opinionated, which is what journalists try to avoid. Journalists should select sources that will give the most appropriate information to them and therefore provide relevant information to frame a story around. Manning (2001), claims that “news media are usually regarded as a playing an important part in maintaining the flow of ideas and information upon which choices are made” (2001: 133). Manning also claims that “the less powerful are significantly disadvantaged to secure access to the media” (2001: 134). This causes problems due to the elite within society having the majority ...

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