Before the computer there was the typewriter. Prior to the typewriter there was pen and paper. And even before pen and paper there were a lot of other lost tools of writing such as clay, papyrus, wood, slate, parchment, and, of course, pens that are made out of reeds.
The act of writing has been a very important part of human culture from the days of carving stories onto the walls of caves. As we have changed, so have our writing tools. In fact, today’s writers and storytellers are really spoiled for choice when it comes down to deciding which tools you want to use.
The following list details our favourite writing tools and resources for taking any one of your ideas through to its written conclusion.
Grammarly
Grammarly is an advanced writing assistant. It offers grammar and plagiarism checks. In addition, Grammarly gives writers the opportunity to boost their works’ readability. The company is based in San Francisco. Released first in 2009, the Grammarly product is available through a suite of desktop and web apps in addition to software plugins.
Office 365
Efficiency is so important for the freelance writer. Being able to create, collaborate and communicate effortlessly makes any person’s business more effective. Having access to productivity tools which enable writers to do their jobs more effortlessly – and from literally anywhere – makes organisations agile and allows them to participate in their sector.
Office 365 is Microsoft’s productivity suite that boasts tools such as Word, Exchange, Excel, SharePoint, Teams and a lot more. As Office 365 is cloud-based, the full-featured experience can be retrieved from anywhere, on any device, so long as they’re online.
The tools in Office 365 complement well each other and work together seamlessly. This means that it’s a must-have for any business.
Dropbox
Emails restrict the size of attachments, making them cumbersome for projects that involve sharing and working together on large files. Online cloud storage app Dropbox comes to the rescue by offering a space for writers to upload files and folders easily for collaborators to easily access, no matter what the device or email service is that they utilise.
Canva
Like any online casino South Africa knows, great visuals are really worth a thousand words. Canva is an image-based tool for content creation and template resource for writers to design eye-catching text and visual content, for example presentations, brochures and booklets. In addition, Canva helps writers create video and social media content smoothly, which is a plus for writers who are new to the multimedia game.
Hemingway App
The Hemingway App is a text editor which remedies errors and bulky sentences. It leaves paragraphs crisp and succinct. For quick sentence check-ups and fixes, writers will have to copy and paste the text into the website or app, which then instantly returns editing suggestions.
SwiftKey
For freelance writers who frequently find themselves working on the go, the SwiftKey mobile app comes in handy. This app integrates itself seamlessly into your mobile phone’s keyboard to support a more intuitive typing experience. Writers are able to customize SwiftKey to cut down typing errors and even make it possible to put together long documents on the phone.
2018 · 