Writing

"You can't go to work on a piece of writing until it is near the end of the process, untill the author has found **//something important to say// and //a way to say it//**. Then it may be clarified through a demonstration of professional editing.....When I write it must be my own writing, not my students." - Donald Murray "The Listening Eye"

"...it was pure revelation. Why, I wondered, didn't English teachers ever do this?!" - Stephen King "Stephen King: On Writing" (on a demonstration of professional editing by his first editor)

"Each year I teach less and less, and my students seem to learn more. I guess what I've learned to do is to stay out of their way and not to interfere with their learning." - Donald Murray

So, here it is....write. Find something important to say and a way to say it. You're the only one who can. Then get help if you need it. Here are some resources to help you in the process.

Digital versions of Traditional Writing Resources
(Dictionary, Thesaurus, Grammar Handbook)

Grammar Handbook
OWLS @ Purdue University [] Grammar Handbook, University of Illinois U-C []

Dictionaries (Encyclopedias)
One Look Dictionary (Search Engine that gathers hits from multiple online dictionaries.) [] Merriam-Webster [] Dictionary.com []

Thesaurus
SnappyWords (the visual dictionary and thesaurus) []

VisuWords (another visual dictionary and thesaurus) []

Visual Thesaurus []

Style Guides
(Strunk & White to APA) OWLS @ Purdue University []

Word Processing
Online Word Processors

Write or Die (a word processor with diabolical....incentive) [|http://writeordie.com/#pc]

FocusWriter (minimalist, clean) []

WriteMonkey (minimalist and beyond...old school) []

Scrivener (beta free, then small fee) []

[|Open Office] or [|LibreOffice] (Open Source Word Processing...like works suite on steroids.)

Online Writing Resources
(and where to find more)

Writing Gooder Blog []

Grammar Girl Blog []

HiveWord - Free Online Novel Writing Organizer []

Pre-writing & Writing Prompts
Toasted Cheese - A monthly calendar of writing prompts. []

356 Creative Writing Prompts []

Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction []

Seventh Sanctum []

The Story Starter randomly generates 3,028,936,680 story starters. Award Winning Website. []

Prompt Generator from Adam Maxwell's Fiction Lounge (Flash Fiction, Detective Fiction, and other fun stuff!) []

Sunday Scribblings Writer's Blog []

Writing Prompts []

Creative Writing Now - Poetry Starters []

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//**"Random" Prompt Generators**//
The Almost Totally Random Prompt Generator []

Three Random Writing Prompt Generators []

Plinky - Social media connected writing prompt generator. []

//Daydreaming on Paper's// Writing Prompt Generator []

Storybase: Character development generator [|http://www.storybase.net]

Online Writing Communities
National Novel Writing Month Community Forums [] Young Writers Society [] WeBook.com [|http://www.webook.com]

[ http://www.teenink.com/ ]Teen Ink A community and online lit magazine for teen writers!

[ http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/ ]Script Frenzy Like NaNoWriMo, but for script writers! [ http://www.youtube.com/user/AFIScreenNation?feature=watch ]AFI Screen Nation YouTube community for young film writers, directors, and producers. [ http://laslatinitas.com/ ]LasLatinitas.com Digital Magazine written for and by Latina Youth. Has a really strong youth writers program. [ http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=1054 ]Writer's Guild of Amercia, West The Craft of Writing for Film and Television. Great script writing resources and ideas. [ http://www.xenith.net/category/writers-on-writing/ ]Xenith (Writer's on Writing Archive page)

Digital Magazine and Community created in 1997 by a bored 16 year old to find out what other teens were writing. [ http://www.writerscafe.org/ ]Writer's Cafe.org

Writing Apps
Visual Poet []

Backspace Tell Stories with photos and words. (app and community) []