7 writing tools and 7 writing blogs  

On my last post, I received a comment from Sandra, the writer behind the Daily Writing Prompt blog, and she invited me to take part in a little tagging game ! The rules are easy : you must list 7 cool or weird things about you. But since we are in the writing blogosphere, I will list 7 writing tools that I use regularly :)

In no particular order :

1. Cut & Paste Word Count : I don't write with Word so here's my favorite wordcounter. Paste, click and here it is.
2. Wordreference : You should be aware that I am not a native English speaker, so I often do some quick lookups on this site. The best thing about Wordreference is its forum, where you can ask for difficult expressions and idioms and get a very precise answer.
3. ClipX : I found this freeware utility on Coding Horror, a blog that I read often since my day job is computer programming. ClipX transforms your clipboard so you can store multiple snippets of text/images. No more "copy/paste" angst (when you copy something and you finally realize you've erased another important snippet !)... I have it installed on every computer that I touch.
   
4. Everchanging Book Of Names (EBON) : It's my favorite name generator because it's entirely customizable. You just create a text file with a list of names (the more, the better), and EBON comes up with smiliar-themed names ! Of course you have libraries of predefined cultures like D&D, Tolkien and such.
5. SciTE : I regularly praise this text editor on my blog for its versatility and customizability. So my only advice will be : use it.
6. Workrave : If you spend your time writing, consider getting Workrave to help you relax your eyes, wrists and hands. It did a very good job for me : I avoided the first RSI symptoms and I learnt the good habit of micro-breaks.
   
7. Behind the Name : It's cool to generate fantasy names, but sometimes you need to have names that sound realistic. Behind the Name has a very complete database and it's totally ad-free.
   

Hope that this little list has been useful to you. To finish this post, I'll tag the 7 following bloggers that I like. Of course, they are all passionate writers. The rest of the story continues on these blogs !

1. Cornerscribe
2. Logan's Write Block
3. Fortrel
4. Born Liar
5. Burning Building
6. Snapshots of life in pictures and words
7. A Dragon Writes

Until next time,