Writing can be a strenuous job. Especially when you add in those dreaded deadlines. A writer has gone through a lot of work, from the brainstorming process to the editing process. The internet contains a lot of useful tools to make this process easier. Here are a couple of tools which can prove useful to any writer.
1. Cliché Finder
One of the prominent challenges of writers is to ensure that their writing does not comprise clichéd phrases. However, it is difficult to keep track of this problem since a typical content writer has to write long articles within deadlines. This is where Cliché Finder can be your best friend. It basically finds overused phrases in your writing to help you omit them.
The website is simple and easy to use. All you have to do is paste your paragraph in the box you will find in the “home page” and then click on the button named “find clichés”. The website will then show your paragraph and highlight the clichés on it.
2. Readable
The average reader’s attention span is about 7 seconds only. Hence it is very important to make your article readable by eliminating redundant words, using bullet points, using simpler words etc. Readable is a website that does exactly what you would guess:- it scrutinizes your paragraph and finds difficult words, grammatical error, long sentences and other minor and major flaws you can change to make your article readable.
The website is sleek and visually pleasing which eases the users’ experience. Just like “Cliché Finder”, you have to copy and paste your article and it will do its magic. However, the website is only free to use for a time period of 7 days, after that you will have to pay to continue. Give it a try and find out whether it’s worth paying for or not yourself.
3. Coschedule Headline Analyzer
Personally, I am a huge fan of the “Medium” platform and read a lot of helpful articles from there. However, I also read a bunch of useless articles solely because I liked their title. Although I did not like those articles, I was still captivated enough by their title to be drawn into reading them. This anecdote somewhat depicts the importance of having a catchy headline. Coschedule Headline Analyzer does exactly that.
After you type your title on the website, it analyzes it by 4 categories of words: common, uncommon, emotional and power. If your title has a mixture of all 4 types of words, then it is deemed strong. After analyzing, the site will give you a rating for your title and suggestions to improve.
4. Scapple
Are you one of those creative writers who likes to draw maps and visualize your ideas before writing? If you are, Scapple is the perfect place for you. Scapple gives you a simplistic white or black board where you can take notes, add customized shapes to keep those notes there and make connections between each shape using lines.
You can also move around these shapes and notes to visualize your thoughts. Although, all this might sound a bit complicated. They make it easier by providing brief tutorials on their website. Although watching tutorials seem a bit counterintuitive but none of these tutorials are more than a minute and it eventually improves productivity on the long term.
Although I found all of these helpful, it might not necessarily be equally helpful for everyone. The best way to find out which ones fit your needs is by trying each one out!
