#Free Writing Tool

[sonshinegreene]

AI-Powered Feedback for Your Novel: Free Prompt for Deep Dives

Hey y’all, Sumo Sized Ginger coming at you today with a free tool. After crafting my own prompt to assess my story, I decided I wanted to use it to share with the community. Like many of you, I’m constantly thinking about how to make my stories better. We pour everything into our writing, especially when we’re tackling challenging themes, using specific stylistic approaches, or aiming for a…

[authormarialberg]

Depth of Cognitive Complexity

It’s already April, and at Experience Writing that means it’s time for NaPoWriMo (National (Global) Poetry Writing Month) and the A-Z Challenge. Complexity by Maria L. Berg 2025 This year, I’m looking at the A-Z of Depth. Have certain definitions of depth peaked your interest? When I first typed up all the definitions of depth, I was intrigued by “sounding.” Sounding is one of the concrete…

[the960writers]

The list of free resources for writing

My current list of things I keep recommending everywhere. I may expand it at some point, but I don't want to make it overwhelming.

These are the basics. This is my answer to the question "I want to be a writer, where should I start? Anybody have tips?"

Yes, I do. It's this list.

2025 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU by Brandon Sanderson

College level creative writing course, free on youtube. Incredible learning opportunity. Go watch it and take notes. Do it now.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH_xM-KC3ZvzkfVo_Dls0B5GiE2oMcLY

K.M. Weiland 

Website and books, specifically story structure and archetypes for characters:

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-story-structure-complete-series/

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-archetypal-character-arcs/

Structuring Your Novel https://kmweilandstore.com/b/wkAVC

Next Level Plot Structure https://kmweilandstore.com/b/next-level-plot-structure

Podcasts

https://writingexcuses.com/, especially Season 10 is a full writing course https://writingexcuses.com/category/season-10/page/6/

Ink in your veins (formerly How do you write?) http://www.howdoyouwrite.net, especially http://www.howdoyouwrite.net/episodes/259 How Do You Actually Fast-Draft a Novel?

The QuitCast for Writers. YouTube channel and audio podcast created around the content of Becca Syme’s “What to Quit, What to Keep, and What to Question” model of coaching writers. https://betterfasteracademy.com/podcast/

Developing a story

https://www.eadeverell.com/idea-to-story/

https://www.valleyofwriters.com/writing-a-novel-using-the-three-chapter-slingshot-method/

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/seven-tips-for-intuitive-writing-the-heart-hand-connection

https://blog.reedsy.com/plot-generator/

Tools

Browser based writing: https://ellipsus.com/

Browser based writing and formatting: https://editor.reedsy.com/

Organizing worldbuilding: https://www.worldanvil.com/

Organizing everything: https://www.notion.com/

Free writing program, full office suite: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Cover design, header graphics: https://www.canva.com/

[scratchandplaster]

smartdraw.com - A cool website I found!

I wanted to do a blueprint of a scene and searched for a free online tool. This website has more than just house plans and mind maps, and I think it could really come in handy if you want to make some settings more approachable.

You can choose to start from scratch or use one of the many templates. The latter is probably easier in the beginning, to try out the different ways to arrange and color the objects. After getting used to the interface (it is similar to PowerPoint) you can use the result as a way to plan your scenes or give your readers a visual aid to follow the plot.

The symbols (or rather objects) for the floor plans, timelines, family trees, crime scenes etc. are sorted in many subcategories, e.g. Floor Plans -> Furniture -> Kitchen. No matter which type of diagram you pick, you can also use the objects from the others, so if you want an endoplasmic reticulum in your bathroom blueprint, go for it.

I think that for whump purposes you should especially check out the Crime Scene category for blood, drugs, weapons and so on.

I do have to say that I experienced some bugs and long loading time, but that could just be my ancient computer going wild. Also, the graphics are certainly not the prettiest. As someone who would have had to draw everything themself instead, it's still a great option.

TLDR: It's like Picrew but for locations.

[w-e-b-k-i-n-z]

ive finally filled my plush room so im starting another >:3

[definitelynotshouting]

saw this post assigning devastating quotes to each life series members, got incredibly inspired, and decided to try my own hand at it but specifically with snippets of the poetry ive personally written throughout the years :] thoughts and musings on several of my choices will be under the cut if you're interested in that sorta thing!! Enjoy<3

Bdubs: "it's all so blue. so blue, so wet, so cold, but you've got a fire in your heart like a hundred rockets. you aren't hungry, but you could eat the dead, / cut your teeth on a rotting corpse."

BigB: "SOMETHING HAS FRACTURED HERE AND IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. EACH DAY YOU WILL CHASE THE FAULT LINES LOOKING FOR A BRIDGE ONLY TO FIND IT ALREADY BURNT."

Etho: "I am above myself, hovering, pressing pale fingers into the dull bruise of yesterday to test its lingering ache. Is this all that's left?"

Gem: "what are gods if not the mothers of our own inventions. we are the avatars of violence and love and hope and fear in equal measure."

Scar: "I think I want to live. I know one day, I must die. In the cosmic wheel of fortune, I am a gamble in the making, gentle breath washing a little luck over the dice."

Grian: "Within the shape of my clawed fingers are knives: scrabbled dirt; scarlet lines; the escape route / Between a fence and / Tall grasses."

Impulse: "Life's bitter, stilted offering / Is that every person we meet / Will one day become a perfect stranger."

Martyn: "Dangerous beasts must earn / Their survival. / You are no different than a knife / In the hands of murderers."

Lizzie: "When I think of the egg-tooth, / I revel in purple glass; the lightning; the shatter; the knife-slip between / Death, and a wake."

Mumbo: "This is your life now, / Found in the cracks and crevices, scraps pried between laughter and reckless abandon."

Pearl: "I am begging, raw in the face of absolution— do not hate me. Please, keep watering me in your garden, / Despite how closely my heart resembles a weed."

Ren: "— and sometimes hearts are forged in violence /— and sometimes blood cannot form scabs / — and sometimes wounds carry half-hearted sutures / — and we are all but living fragments / —"

Skizz: "Just a little longer. Please. / There is light pooling at the bottom of the flower vase."

Scott: "I can only hope that with the rising of the dawn / I will pass through darkness and return to day, / Where I am a solar ray blinding— teeth and claws sharpened, the stretch of my skin carrying gold / Above the dull, dug out earth"

Joel: "Tamed by nothing, no one, I lose myself to the shattered chains; / Yes, there is a loss."

Jimmy: "for year after bloody year, i clung to life with aching fingernails, grasped at every straw, took every scrap of double-barrelled hope and shot myself in the chest with it."

Tango: "every time you claw yourself from the ashes you insist it will never happen again. every time you reach the breaking point, it happens a little bit faster."

Cleo: "It's about catharsis, not letting go. / Because a part of me wants to hold this, / A swelling hurt deeper than tides, / Hotter than stars. The kind of rage / A mother might raise against her own child."

I dont share my poetry on here very often, partially because it tends to end up coming from a very personal part of me, but since this was actually a lot of fun maybe i'll start posting my poems more often here :]] i think what i found most interesting about this exercise was that as i scrolled my notes app and cherry-picked quotes for each character, it felt like the ones i chose naturally became part of a larger conversation-- as if the characters were speaking to me through my own words about their lowest points, about their ultimate views on the games filtered through the lens of a red life.

It felt enlightening; i dont often feel like im speaking to characters or being informed about their plots/preferences, etc. the way many other writers discuss in workshops or casually online, but by the end of this exercise i felt like i just... understood them, better than i had before. There's something inexplicable about reading your own words and consciously finding ways to apply them in a way that encapsulates them down to a character's core that just... truly highlights the specific qualities that resonate most with you. And i think stumbling upon that organically was a very vivid and incredible experience for me

Admittedly, i did struggle on Scott, Ren, and Etho a lot-- im not as familiar with them as characters, and for a while i couldn't quite pinpoint what exact themes they tend to carry with them throughout all their life seasons. But when i started to really look at everyone's quotes as a whole, i realized they felt like a story, like the response to a question-- as if i was being TOLD what they felt and how, and that that was how i needed to frame the rest of my selections. So Scott's ended up being about control, and the desperate hanging onto of it; Ren's is about the acceptance and bitterness of what he cannot change; Etho's is a quiet resignation rounded out with softer disbelief. The more i looked at these choices, the more they felt correct to me-- and while i still think i have a ways to go before i fully understand these characters, i feel like this has helped me a lot with that ultimate goal :]

Of all these poetry snippets, though, i think Scar, Skizz, and Joel's are my absolute favorites. Skizz's poem is actually the whole poem in its entirety (as is Cleo's, funnily enough)-- it's a short, very simple poem that is incredibly close to my heart for many reasons, but the main one being because it was written at one of my lowest points a few years back. Its about clawing for hope when there isnt any, and finding even the smallest of beautiful things to hold onto, and begging yourself to keep holding onto that at any cost. The pure, clean beauty of watching light refract through a vase of flowers, and knowing that sometimes, that's all there is to live for-- I felt like that really spoke to Skizz's life series character as a whole: finding the beauty in every tiny thing, no matter how small, and scrabbling for more time to appreciate it.

Scar's snippet comes from a much longer poem of mine about the difficulty of reconciling the idea of a future when you havent had to think of one before (incidentally, Etho's snippet comes from this poem as well). I think out of everyone, this quote encapsulates him the best; i like how it subtly references that inner well of vivacity he draws from that many other characters struggle to find, and how that in turn ties in with the lore that he never died a final death during Secret Life. And i love how it simultaneously manages to encompass the way he utilizes the social game in each season as well-- Scar's an incredibly intelligent social player, and i think the imagery of a gambler breathing their luck over the dice as they cast it, and as he casts himself at others for alliances and enemies, truly does fit him.

As for Joel, the full poem his quote comes from is one im particularly proud of, especially for its final lines. I think, quite honestly, i can let this poem stand for itself in its entirety:

They say transformation is letting the light in, But in my mind it's a violence. A coarseness, a fracturing, the bloody vowels between a scream And a howl. How do you transform without killing yourself? When I am a lion, my hands and feet Grow claws; my teeth sharpen. No longer do I spark— I ignite. Tamed by nothing, no one, I lose myself to the shattered chains; Yes, there is a loss. To transform is to leave behind a body And eat its still-breathing corpse.

I find myself referencing this poem a lot even in my daily life-- as longterm readers of mine already know, one of my favorite themes is that of replacing yourself and permanent transformation. This poem really is just about how changing, in any shape or form, alters you forever; how you can look back on yourself from even just a few months ago and feel like a completely different person despite remaining the same. Connecting it with Joel's character, and how he acts during his red lives in each season, was a natural and intuitive progression once i really sat and thought about it.

Alright thats enough yapping from me 😂😂😂 im not used to writing meta nor delving into my poetry on here, so this was a bit of an experimental post for me. If youve read up until this point, i both applaud your patience and really hope you enjoyed this window into my personal works and thoughts on them :]] cheers, and thanks to @/chipperchemical the op of the original post for inspiring me!!!❤️❤️❤️

[queriesntheories]

A Nest of Internet Trinkets v1 is now LIVE!!!

It's a whole directory of cool things I've collected, with 190 links so far! (and more to come in future!!)

art and writing tips

free games

web tools and webtoys

free books and watchable media

awesome things you can learn

mental health resources

a wheel you can spin!

one whole crow!

and more that i haven't elaborated on!!

Special thanks to @good-morning-czernobog for inspiring me to do this, @paperoxalis and my beloved mutuals for bearing witness to my insanity, and to everyone who's been interested in this for their utmost patience. If you have any sites to suggest, shoot me an ask, or email me!

Now go look at my awesome webbed site!!

(link was updated 16th April 2025)

[kakusu-shipping]

With the release of Deltarune for Purchase, I decided to update my Deltarune Red soul S/I just a touch, and do some more doodles of it for funsies while I was there

[harley-mayfield]

there is a special place (derogatory) in my heart for the ways people dance around admitting "i did not write this, an AI did"

"i use [AI model] to organise my ideas"

"[AI model] adjusted some of the pacing and grammar"

"i've always loved storytelling and was able to use [AI model] to flesh out an actual novel"

bonus if their defense includes "AI is a tool; the story, ideas and characters are mine"

[cuties-in-codices]

Where do you find these manuscripts? Is it like a website or do you find it randomly??

hey, thanks for the curiosity! lenghty answer below the cut :)

1)

medieval manuscripts are typically owned by libraries and showcased on the library's websites. so one thing i do is i randomly browse those digitized manuscript collections (like the collections of the bavarian state library or the bodleian libraries, to name just two), which everybody can do for free without any special access. some digital collections provide more useful tools than others (like search functions, filters, annotations on each manuscript). if they don't, the process of wading through numerous non-illustrated manuscripts before i find an illustrated one at all can be quite tedious.

2)

there are databases which help to navigate the vast sea of manuscripts. the one i couldn't live without personally use the most is called KdIH (Katalog der deutschsprachigen illustrierten Handschriften des Mittelalters). it's a project which aims to list all illustrated medieval manuscripts written in german dialects. the KdIH provides descriptions of the contents of each manuscript (with a focus on the illustrations), and if there's a digital reproduction of a manuscript available anywhere, the KdIH usually links to it. the KdIH is an invaluable tool for me because of its focus on illustrated manuscripts, because of the informations it provides for each manuscript, and because of its useful search function (once you've gotten over the initial confusion of how to navigate the website). the downside is that it includes only german manuscripts, which is one of the main reasons for the over-representation of german manuscripts on my blog (sorry about that).

3)

another important database for german manuscripts in general (i.e. not just illustrated ones) is the handschriftencensus, which catalogues information regarding the entirety of german language manuscripts of the middle ages, and also links to the digital reproductions of each manuscript.

4)

then there are simply considerable snowball effects. if you do even just superficial research on any medieval topic at all (say, if you open the wikipedia article on alchemy), you will inevitably stumble upon mentions of specific illustrated manuscripts. the next step is to simply search for a digital copy of the manuscript in question (this part can sometimes be easier said than done, especially when you're coming from wikipedia). one thing to keep in mind is that a manuscript illustration seldom comes alone - so every hint to any illustration at all is a greatly valuable one (if you do what i do lol). there's always gonna be something interesting in any given illustrated manuscript. (sidenote: one very effective 'cheat code' would be to simply go through all manuscripts that other online hobbyist archivers of manuscript illustrations have gone through before - like @discardingimages on tumblr - but some kind of 'professional pride' detains me from doing so. that's just a kind of stubbornness though. like, i want to find my material more or less on my own, not just the images but also the manuscripts, and i apply arbitrary rules to my search as to what exactly that means.)

5)

whatever tool or strategy i use to find specific illustrated manuscripts-- in the end, one unavoidable step is to actually manually skim through the (digitized) manuscript. i usually have at least a quick look at every single illustrated page, and i download or screenshot everything that is interesting to me. this process can take up to an hour per manuscript.

---

in conclusion, i'd say that finding cool illuminated manuscripts is much simpler than i would have thought before i started this blog. there are so many of them out there and they're basically just 'hidden in plain side', it's really astounding. finding the manuscripts doesn't require special skills, just some basic experience with/knowledge of the tools available. the reason i'm able to post interesting images almost daily is just that i spend a lot of time doing all of this, going through manuscripts, curating this blog, etc. i find a lot of comfort in it, i learn a lot along the way, and i immensely enjoy people's engagement with my posts. so that's that :)

[stadam]

i've mentioned this vaguely but... adam IS sworn to virtue and chastity, as an angelic knight, as his duty is devoted to serving heaven and he's not supposed to indulge in any temptations of the flesh. obviously, he doesn't adhere to this strictly. but he does, inwardly, feel somewhat guilty about it. he does consider it a sin / or at the very least, breaking his vow. so, he's generally not very open about any such affairs, nor does he actually sleep around often. ( especially while in heaven! if he indulges, it's usually down in hell. )

[kattricia]

idk sometimes you just need to do things for the sake of soul preservation, you know? like pick up a hobby you're average at. not even average. maybe just bad? learn something new. crochet a deformed frog. write the worst fanfic known to man. not everything has to serve a purpose under capitalism. we're not put on this earth to monetize our free time

[theprissythumbelina]

Is there like, an editable timeline sort of thing that is free on the internets, that writers can use to plan out their WIPs? I feel like that would be really useful for me right now. Anyone know of one?

@thetruearchmagos @thatndginger @amaiguri @sergeantnarwhalwrites @winterandwords @jacqueswriteblrlibrary @ anyone that can help

[princessofghosts-posts]

When all your classmates are happy that the last year of high school finally ended,because they can finally do the exam,and leave the school to do their own things,but you are happy it ended because you can finally read the rest of ToA,continue updating your fanfics and draw after months:

Me and them aren't the same😔✋

My priorities are straight,I swear.

[shinakazami1]

I'm thinking of @krotiation post about how Rhys is strong sm and I'm just wondering of Anu and him

Anu presents herself as genius - after all, she made the device to mimic power of sirens which is just very awesome but... We don't see her genius at all in the game. All we see is that she's dependant on her goggles to analyse for her.

The way the comments are built in the game suggest that Rhys had some doing to them. They are snarky, they get some Atlas marketing in there too and while Echo devices had always existed with some remarks, they have their own character well before Ocvatio puts additional programming in.

Best way to show how dependant she's on them is Episode 4. When she reaches her designed spot where she's made to believe to be seen as genius, she problems solves through... The goggles. She doesn't solve the issues by herself at ALL - everything has to be said to her.

Through Tales, we watch Rhys use the Echo device a lot. But there are many moments, in combat or through hacking in Ep 3 that show its only an enhancer of his abilities, not main source of them. It is of course unfair a bit to say - as he also has the arm that he uses a few times, since it's stronger than his body but, I feel his loss of the devices is very significant. Because at the end of the day - he wanted a manager position from the start. He was sometimes an asshole, a coward, but in the end, he did exactly what he wanted. Through his own hard work, he got to the top.

They both used their echo devices to analyse. Anu however, used it to think for her. Rhys used it to help him think.

[aldisobey]

Why is writing so hard lol

Wish it could be faster but forcing the feeling is impossible. Begin with musical ritual. Scrolling walls of artful halls. Masticating prose. Sink and dwell and rot with a feeling caught.

And then a different part of the story retches to page. Like prepping a body for possession. Sometimes a spirit you didn’t expect comes calling with an embrace you can’t escape.

I wish the process was outline, drafts, edit, and edit, edit, edit, edit, etc. But I need to check the moon the bugs the wide space of tide

drown my pretentious ass and toss me out to sea

It needs to be real and alive within, burgeoning to escape before I can excise a word.

I don’t think I’d like it easy