Creating content for the web isn’t easy, especially when there are so many tempting distractions. Hence it is important that a web writer is familiar with some tools of the trade that help in enhancing his productivity as a writer.
Following is a list of 5 tools which I think should be present in every writer’s toolbox. With the exception of the last one, they’re particularly suited for online writing
1. Dark Room for Windows and WriteRoom for Mac
Both Dark Room and WriteRoom are same tools, except that the former is for Windows and latter for Macs. They are probably the best distraction free writing software available.
2. Windows Live Writer
Windows Live Writer is undoubtedly the best desktop blogging client available. None of the other such tools, even its Mac counterparts, come close.
3. Evernote
Writing web content generally involves a good bit of research. Evernote helps in capturing and organizing notes, images, links etc so that you can quickly access them when you are doing the actual writing.
4. Freemind
Freemind is a free mind mapping software to help you generate ideas and document your thought process.
5. Pen and Paper
It’s surprising how underrated pen and paper have become in this era of laptops, cellphones and iPad. But when you are stuck with a thought, disconnecting from the computer and turning to these two tools could be the best bet to get your creative juices flowing.
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Hey Thanks for the tools. I never knew such tools existed!
A whiteboard is also useful for brainstorming before writing an article.
wow thanks for the tools i did not know so much could go into online witing but im glad now because thanks to you i will be wrtiting with so much more.
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Thank you for sharing this. I use Seavus DropMind™. It is an excellent web and desktop mind mapping software with flexible installation across different operating systems – Windows, Mac or Linux.
Abhijeet,
Great list. I use all of these at one point or another. I love Evernote and LiveWriter. Plus, nothing beats a nice pen and notebook.
Thanks,
Chris
I would recommend XMind as an alternative to the mind mapping software you suggested. It’s also free, collaborative and arguably more intuitive. http://www.xmind.net
Also toss in Google Docs as another alternative to collecting your thoughts with.
Thanks so much for the info. Had never heard of Evernote before. Can’t wait to try it out.
Wow, I really like WriteRoom.
Thanks Abhijeet. Good info.
Thanks all for the nice comments. 🙂
Bubbl is a great online and free mind mapping application. Their beta is even better. I ditched Freemind after I found this.
http://bubbl.us/
Just tried it out and Dark Room 0.8b doesn’t work on my Windows XP machine. It failed miserably. “The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135)”
A great online tool: Writer by BigHugeLabs.com Fast, easy and gets out of the way. And always available: On the web.
Your link to DarkRoom goes to the 2006 version. No wonder it doesn’t work. Jeff did a total rewrite cross-platform on Adobe AIRand called DarkRoomX.
It was in Pre-Release stage in September 2009. http://they.misled.us/archives/1225
An updated version doesn’t seem to be available. I have not tried it yet, so maybe its already feature complete and doesn’t need an update. Who knows.
Thanks for finding an updated version. The 2006 release of Dark Room never quite made it past 0.8 from what I can tell…yet it is still being talked about on the web today.
Let us know if it works for you; we’d like to know if this updated edition works for anyone out there!
why is windows live writer so good?