Links Tent: Speaking of Writing Groups...

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of a writing group for even a beginner writer. If you don't belong to a local group--or even if you do--check out these useful online writing communities.

Stop by the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Whether you write novels, scripts, poetry or non-fiction, Absolute Write has a forum for you. Read about other people's experiences with an agent you're considering, find a critique partner or share freelance writing markets.

Querytracker.net's community also includes lots of information about writing, agents and getting published. There's a whole section devoted to critiques: the first five pages of your novel, your query letter and your synopsis. Be sure to check out the World's Worst [fictitious] Query Letters forum for a sampling of what not to do in your query letter.

Writer's Digest and The Writer magazines have useful online writing communities as well. In addition to "the usual" types of forums, Writer's Digest includes the Writer's Block Party and Success Stories, while The Writer has a forum for Unpublished Writers and an online Book Club.

Women on Writing lists several critique groups and writing organizations as well as lots of other resources and information. Take a look around their site.

If you have a favourite online writing community I haven't mentioned, please leave a comment and I'll add it to the list.

Links Tent: Time Savers

Here are a few free tools that will save you time.

PDF Tools:

• PDF 995 allows you to easily convert your Word files to PDF files by clicking on your "print" command. A companion product, PDFEdit 995, allows you to combine PDF files or extract pages from a PDF. Both products are free, but sponsor pages will display when you use them. You can also purchase a key if you would prefer to not see the sponsor pages.
• PDF to Word converts your existing PDF files to Word or RTF files.

Time Tools:

• Online Stop-watch offers an online stopwatch and timer. You can keep track of how long you are spending on a project, or set the timer to ring when it's time to move on to something else (or collect the kids from the bus stop).
• Google Calendar allows you to create several calendars to manage all the rings in your circus, assign each of them a different colour, and then view them separately or all together. You can share part or all of a calendar with others and you can easily set up events from your messages in Gmail. 

Timelines/Days in History:

• Josh Hosler presents The #1 Song on Billboard on this Date in History.  
• WhoWhatWhen will display a timeline of events that occurred in a fictional character's or actual person's life from 1000AD to the present. 
• Any-Day-in-History lists the major births, deaths and events of any given day. On this day (October 7th) in 1950, the NY Yankees swept the Philadelphia Phillies in the 47th World Series, and in 1985, Lynette Woodward was chosen as the first woman on the Harlem Globetrotters.
• Writer's Dream Tools includes Today in History and History by Decades at no charge. Other databases, including clichés, slang and quotes are available with a one-time subscription fee.

Words, Words, Everywhere There's Words:

• Reverse Dictionary lets you plug in the definition, and it will tell you the word you need.
• Dictionary.com includes an online dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia and translator.
  

Friday Quick Tip: Google Reader

The blogs I list to the right are not the only blogs I follow, they're just some of the best ones--the ones that offer good information and advice on a regular basis. Others only have new posts once in a while (but those posts are worth the wait), some only have relevant (to me) information occasionally, some are friend's blogs, and so on.

I don't have a lot of time, and I definitely don't have time to waste sifting through blogs to see if there's any new information on them. Which is where Google Reader comes in.

If you're looking for a technical explanation of what Google Reader is, well, you're in the wrong place. Basically, Google Reader provides you with a list of new posts for the blogs you subscribe to. Then you can quickly skim through the posts, label the ones you want to easily find again, and discard the rest.

You can also receive news feeds from your favourite news sites in the same fashion. Just look for the "RSS Feed" button or a "subscribe to" link. You'll then be able to choose which feeder you want to subscribe with, and you're done.

You can even add Google Reader to your iGoogle page, making it faster and simpler to keep up with your favourite blogs.

If you're not yet sold, take a tour of Google Reader and try it out. And for more information about RSS, check out the What is RSS? RSS Explained site.