So one of the many nerdy things I do is scour the Internet for information. Sometimes, I’m in search of ideas, other times I need resources. I’m a tools kind of person. If something can make my life easier, make the work I do more efficient and I can then be more effective, I will use it.

This week, I happened upon two such items. I know there are plenty of ways to find this stuff and plenty of sights out there that have them, but I figure, as I find them, I’ll share them.

So here goes.

#1 : How to Plot a Novel
This comes by way of another writer. Sure there are loads of books out there, but I like his concise list. I’m a big fan of concise. Once you get the ‘hang’ of it anyway, you don’t need all that detail … you need a list, so this one I liked.

How to Develop a Novel’s Plot

#2 : Autocrit
This is a piece of software, online, that one can dump words into and it will check for certain elements within the writing. Cliches, Redundant phrases, duplicate use of words, readability (whether the words used were more for middle grade reading or adult), duplicate phrase usage. It’s not a spell checker or a grammar checker — we all have those in our own programs.

I already have ‘tags’ in my head that when my fingers start to type, I stop, reword and rewrite, but sometimes, if I’m sucked into the story and haven’t paid attention, I’ll miss it. Then when I edit the 1st, or 10th time, I’ll STILL miss it.

For me, this little piece of help is my ‘last catch’ after I’ve done all my stuff. It catches what I haven’t, what my readers haven’t and what I want to fix before it goes to an editor. Handy, dandy tool I tell ya.

Autocrit

You can even try it out online and then subscribe if you want. 🙂