Writing and Language Resources
What is this category? Well, I am a writer by hobby, education,
and hopefully profession, some day. I love words. They continue
to fascinate me. So, I have gathered some of my favorite writing
and word links and put them all in one place. Of course, what is
a fiction writer without some way of coming up with names for his
or her characters? So, I have naming resources here, as well. And
just because I cannot read another language well doesn't mean I
don't like other languages. So, to top it all off, I have listed
English sites explaning other languages.
Just recently, I started a website devoted just to writer's resources.
It's very new and has a bit of growing to do, but you can find it
at writer.lacuna.us. Feel
free to check it out and let me know what you think.
Last updated 06/10/07
Newest items marked with a *
Writer's Resources
Author Network
BitBooks Writer Resources
Bubbles in
my Head - Advice for writing fiction. Posted in blog format,
but still a useful site.
Bulwer Lytton Writing
Contest Cool Quotes
Essays on the
Craft of dramatic writing
Everything2.com
Freelance
Writing Resource Hopeful Writer
Limyaael's
Fantasy Writing Rants Lulu
Self Publishing
Nanowrimo.org
Poetry.com
Poetry Daily
Poetry Express
Quantum Muse
Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers
of America
Scriptstyles
template The
Scriptorium The Scroll
Story Elements
Tenebris - Publishing
blog
Truly
Terrified
WikiQuote - Yes, it's
true. You can find all sorts of quotes on this site, for many,
many notables. You can even add your own (appropriately sourced)
quotes, as well.
Write Express
Writer
Resources Links Writing.com
Writing.org Write
Here, Write Now Write
On Writers write
Writing World
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Dictionaries, Thesauri, etc.
Internet
Anagram Server Wordlab
links Chris
Pound's Language Machines
Word Spy Readability.info
Banished word list
Word Detective
Word Salad Word
IQ Your Dictionary
Online Dictionary
Lexical Freenet Rhymezone
Rhyming Dictionary Pseudodictionary
Think
Exist A Word
a Day Dictionary.com
Palindrome list
Zompist.com Take
our Word Word
for Word A
Way with Words Online
Etymology Dictionary Glossarist
Xlation.com Alpha
Dictionary site Variation
in English Words & Phrases Anagram
Genius Write Express
Rhymer Rhyme Zone
Langmaker.com Rhyming
Dictionary Internet
Acronym Server Acronym
Finder Merriam-Webster
Dictionary Thesaurus.com
Voycabulary - turning
pages into dictionaries
The Alternative
Dictionaries - Slang and Profanity
Confusing Words
- Get confused by "affect" and "effect?"
How about "their," "they're" and "there?"
Well, this site helps you figure these words out.
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Grammar and Style Daily
Grammar Guide
to Grammar and Writing Common
Errors in English
Dr. Grammar
English Companion
- Teacher oriented, but useful site for English and education |
Word Fun, Games and Etymology
Fun with Words -
from the site: "dedicated to amusing quirks, peculiarities,
and oddities of the English language: wordplay. Playing with
words and language is both entertaining and educational. Here
you can have plenty of fun with words with over 500 pages of
word puzzles, games, amazing lists, and fun facts." Worthless
Word for the Day Etymologically
Speaking World
Wide Words Online
Etymology Dictionary Word
Counter
Cliche Finder
The Word Detective
- A word etymologist, humorous and amusing, writes a regular
column.
My favorite Word
- A bit odd, this is a site where you can submit your favorite
word in the English language and explain why you like it. That's
all there is to it. |
Name/Naming Resources Baby
Names Baby
Names World Behind
the Name Kate
Monk's Onomastikon Curiosities
of Biological Nomenclature Baby
Name Wizard Baby
Names.com Dog
naming Celtic
Names of the British Isles Random
Name Generator Name
nerds Behind
the Name random names Utah
Baby Namer Mormon
Name Generator Babynology
Name Satistics
SSA list of Popular
Baby Names - The Social Security Administration has been
keeping track of names (among other details about the American
people ) for years. One nice thing about all that data is that
you can see what names were popular when.
Cool Baby Names
- Besides the traditional way of looking up baby names, you
can also look up names by meaning, and by culture of origin.
They also have the most popular names of a given year and have
a bunch of info for new parents.
Baby Name Search
- Seems to be a standard name search, but with some nice extra
features, like finding "unusual" names, name puns,
science fiction names and more.
123 Baby Names - Look
up name meanings and origins. You choose gender, the cultural
background, and the starting letter or letters to find what
you want.
Baby Hold - Has baby
name lists by ethnicity, various helpful suggestions for choosing
a name that is right for your baby (or character) and a lot
of baby-centric information for pregnant women (who may or may
not be writers, after all). Of course, it gives name meanings
and also lists name trends for several years.
Baby Name Genie
- It sounds strange, but yes, a "genie" grants your
wishes and gives you first and middle names, after you supply
the last name. Although it isn't perfect (what is?), it does
give some interesting tips in naming children (and characters). |
Languages, non-English Native
American Languages Dictionary
Yucatecan Mayan Language WordReference.com
FreeDict.com Cherokee-English-
Dictionary Cheyenne
- English Dictionary Directory
of Language Dictionaries Latin
to English Dictionary English
to Shoshoni Dictionary Internet
Dictionary Project Iroqois
Language Index Linguistic
Exploration Java
Based O'odham Dictionary Maliseet
Dictionary Alabama
Dictionary Mi'gmaq
Language Dictionary West
Virginia Mingo Language Navajo
Code Talkers' Dictionary American
Indian Language Resources Gaelic
Languages Info Klallam
Word List Interactive
IñupiaQ Dictionary Freelang.net
Creek Language
Archive Your
Dictionary.com Translatum
Onelook - Dictionary search
engine that looks across multiple sites for definitions of English
words. Has advanced search options. Onelook
list of Dictionaries List
of Dictionaries All
Dictionaries.com Word
to Word Language Resources Hieroglyphs.net
Ancient
Languages and Scripts Jim
Loy's Egyptology Page Native
American Languages Jewish
Languages Ethnologue
Shawnee
Language Mandarin
Tools Unilang.org
Xerox
Language Identifier Online
Dictionaries of other languages
Chinese Tools
Pinyin Info
Omniglot - Writing systems
and languages of the world
Navajo-English
Dictionary - in pdf format
Intertran
- Online translation service. Claims to have 1600 language pairs.
I get good results with this site.
Translation Guide - For all your translation needs. This site
is a guide for the professional, the student and the traveler.
Systran Free
Online Translation - Like Babelfish, you just type in the
text you want translated, or the website you want to translate,
and choose the to and from language, then hit translate. Not
perfect, but no translation service is perfect.
TextCat
Language Guesser - You just enter in a sample of the language
you are trying to figure out, then it will spit out the results
to you. Pretty cool service.
Babelfish - by
AltaVista. This is the first tranlsation service on the web
that I encountered. Still a great resource.
Free Translation
Langenberg
Language Translation |
Reader's Resources
Authors on the Web
- Resource for finding information about your favorite authors.
Well, they have a lot of authors, and they do interviews and
stuff.
Book Crossing - This
is like a great big online book swap, only you give your books
to strangers. Through a unique system, each book is labeled
and given a unique number, then left somewhere. When another
person finds it, he or she goes to this site (because of the
labeling) and reports that they found it. Spreading good literature.
Book Reporter - A
site dedicated to book reviews. Authors are encouraged to submit
theirs for review, and site users can even volunteer for duty.
One nice touch is having a "books to movies" section
(which talks about books that have been Hollywoodized, of course).
Fantastic Fiction
- Has the biographies of over 10,000 authors and info on over
200,000 books. Tons of info here for the browsing reader.
Internet Book List - The
IMDB of books. This site lists a ton of authors and reviews.
A must for the book fan.
Love Reading UK
- British site for book lovers. Sure, it allows you to buy books
in the UK, which may not do much for people in the U.S. (such
as myself), but it also has unique "guidance tools"
that help you choose what your next book will be. Great resource.
Paperback Swap -
How this one works is, you list the books you are willing to
part with. If someone requests it, you mail it to them, no cost
to them. But if you see books someone else has that you want,
you can make requests yourself. The only cost is for shipping.
Reading Group Guide
- A directory to over 2000 book reading groups. Has advice and
hints for starting your own reading group, book reviews and
even a newsletter.
Whichbook - This is
a cool site that helps you choose a book to read based on your
mood or interest in a particular race, setting, type of plot,
and more. Haven't seen anything else quite like this. |
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