Useful Programs and Websites

[donutsweeper]

Useful websites and programs for writing, editing, planning, paint/photography programs and whatnot

I'm not necessarily endorsing any of these as I haven't done more then poke about on any of them, but some look useful. Be aware that many of these programs may now use or be associated with AI, so use at your own discretion.

Multilingual:
Language Tool - a multilingual grammar, style and spell checker "LanguageTool is an AI-based grammar checker."
Verbix - Online verb conjugation with specific pages for English, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish (in theory does others as well)

English only editors of a sort:
Ginger- "Write with confidence with Ginger, the AI-powered writing assistant, correct your texts, improve your style and boost your creativity. (online, join for free)
autocrit - "Manuscript Editing Software for Fiction Writers" (online, free)
Hemingway app Online editor, grading your writing by its readability. (free version uses AI)
ProWritingAid- Grammar Checking and Manuscript Editing software (online, free and paid versions, must register)
Scribens.com "A powerful, free English grammar checker"
grammarchecker - counts the number of characters, words, sentences & paragraphs with spaces and give you readability, reading level, reading time & speaking time of the text.
Word Frequency Counter (online, free)
Phrase Frequency Counter (online, free)
After the Deadline C&P your work for it to get feedback for grammar, spelling, etc (online, free, no longer being updated)
grammarly - "free, accurate grammar checker" (fyi, now entirely AI and becoming known for making incorrect corrections)
WordCounter - gives word count and also shows top 10 keywords and keyword density (online, free)
Easywordcount gives word and character count (online, free)
Readability Test Tool- Quick and easy way to test the readability of your work. (can check by url or C&Ping, online, free)

Article about why word counts differ between word programs

Writing, note taking, organization programs:
Open Office opensource free word program, no longer updated
LibreOffice another opensource free word program
OmPad - writing app, saves as you write, customizeable (online, free)
Joplin -"Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, can be copied, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor."
Typehere - place to type akin to notebook, not a program
Type Here, The Online Text Editor - very simple online word program
yWriter- considered by some an excellent, but free, alternative to Scriviner. (free to download. Here is an article talking about how to use it best.)
Calmly Writer writing program with different modes (dyslexic, dark, distraction free, etc) as well as some other basics (online or app, free, no registration)
writer "Distraction free focus for your writing" (requires registration, free and pro versions)
Manuskript "a tool for those writer who like to organize and plan everything before writing... While writing, keep track of notes about every characters, plot, event, place in your story."
Obsidian writing, organizing, and notetaking app and canvas. (free to download)
Ellipsus writing program/platform (requires registration, free to use, has an anti-AI stance; tumblr post describing its export directly to AO3 feature)
Reedsy Studio "Reedsy Studio is an all-in-one book production tool that allows you to effortlessly plan, write, edit, and format any piece of writing" (webbased program, requires registration, free to use)
Proton Docs "Docs in Proton Drive are end-to-end encrypted so your work stays safe from data breaches, online surveillance, and can never be fed into AI models." (requires registering for a free account to use)
SmartEdit Writer "Free Software for Novel and Short Story Writers" (download to use)
Notepad++ free, slim Notepad replacement
Notetab "For some NoteTab is simply the best Notepad replacement out there. For webmasters it’s the fastest HTML editor. For others it’s the most versatile text editor. For power users it’s a unique text-processing work horse. What will it be for you?"
Ensō "Write now, edit later. The text fades away as you type so you can focus on what you want to say instead of how you want to say it. You can’t select or edit text, but you can download and review it once you’re done."

Writing Encouragement:
Written Kitten every 100 words gives you a picture of a cute kitten
Fighter’s block - try to defeat a monster by writing

Random other useful programs for writing/plotting/thinking/arting etc:
The Alphabetizer- not only alphabetizes, but can sort by first or last name, capitalize the list, remove duplicates or html, randomize and more
Free Online Text Word Counter - word counter with options to fiddle with formats, including HTML encoding, and you can export to different file types.
notebook.ai "a worldbuilding tool that organizes, saves, and helps in fully fleshing out your fictional world, your way."
Hiveworld - "Powerful, Customizable Novel Organizer" along with articles about writing, location and name generators (must register, online, free)
Bubbl.us- create a mind map- good for trying to organize different ideas that play off of one another (free, can register or just use as is)
Loopy - "A tool for thinking in systems; a movement to make learning active, not just passive"
diagrams.net - "free, high quality diagramming software"
Online Genogram Maker also makes graphs and flowcharts

Online MSpaint-like program
Photopea - advanced image editor (aka a photoshop knockoff)
ipiccy "Photo Editor. Collage Maker. Graphic Designer Everything you need to make your photo awesome online"
Pixlr E "Free Advanced Photo Editor & Design Maker"
befunky "makes your photo editing, collage making, and graphic design workflow seamless."

Random but useful:
Zamzar, online file converter
Print Friendly enter a URL to make it printer-friendly or convert files to or from PDFs
incompetech PDFs of dozens of different types of papers (grids, squares, patterns, hexes, and more)
cobalt "cobalt helps you save anything from your favorite websites: video, audio, photos or gifs. just paste the link and you’re ready to rock! no ads, trackers, paywalls, or other nonsense. just a convenient web app that works anywhere, whenever you need it."
Online HTML editor and a second one, a third one, and a fourth one

Research and Resource Collected Links Masterpost

Comments

[lilly_c]

I use grammarly and some features are behind a paywall.

[donutsweeper]

Ah, I'd edit that in, thanks

Word counter

[sahilkhan009]

This Word counter
counts how many numbers of alphabets, characters, Words, Sentences & Paragraphs in your text with spaces. Online Character count calculator will show you readability, reading level, reading time & speaking time of your text without limits.

Re: Word counter

[donutsweeper]

I'll add it in, thanks!

[octahedrite]

I know this post is old, but I'd like to suggest LanguageTool -- it's free, open-source, and a great substitute for Grammarly. Plus it works offline.

P.S. Thank you for these resource posts! Just found them today and am slowly working my way though them. :)

[donutsweeper]

I'm always updating these masterlists as new suggestions are made and old links are no longer valid so thanks, I'll add it! :)

[gloriousgoblinqueen]

Hi there! This list is really cool, thanks for posting it.

I was in the process of following some of the links and I found a couple of dead ones so far: Editminion is giving a Firebase "Site Not Found" error, and yarny.me seems to be undergoing an "overhaul" with no solid end date.

[donutsweeper]

Oh no. It's bound to happen, some of these I haven't checked in years. I'll update it. Thanks for the heads up.