Helpful Links

Here are a bunch of links to websites that might be helpful when planning your novel. Generators, Name meanings, and more!

Generators

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php
Title: http://mdbenoit.com/rtg.htm
Title: http://www.fictionalley.org/primer/title.html
Fantasy Title: http://nine.frenchboys.net/novel.php
Name: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/
Fantasy Name: http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/
Band Name: http://www.bandnamemaker.com/
Hobbit Name: http://chriswetherell.com/hobbit/index.php
Baby Name: http://www.nymbler.com/
Names: http://www.whatsinaname.net/

Character Development

45 Questions to Create Backstories: http://anitariggio.suite101.com/developing-memorable-characters-a52915
Name Meanings: http://www.behindthename.com/
Surname Meanings: http://surnames.behindthename.com/
Character Creation Chart: http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html

Prompts

http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/handouts/inside.html
http://creativewritingprompts.com/
http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts
http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com/
http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/
http://dragonwritingprompts.blogspot.com/
Http://toasted-cheese.com

Seemed to be mixed reviews about this but I'm looking at outlining using this method:
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

This is where our regional stats will live, once they get the records sorted out.

http://alison.caffeinatedbliss.com/nano.php

here's some links I've randomly come across in my years of doing research:

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Main_Page <-- a database of weaponry used on TV and in the movies. If you're not techy or a gun nut and want to give your character that really cool gun you saw on "Chuck" last week, this site is a great resource.

http://little-details.livejournal.com/ <-- Detail Oriented. The nano forums are a great resource for finding out those crazy things, but I love to read this Livejournal community, where experts take a look at your questions on all sorts of subjects and give insightful, detailed answers.

http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/ <-- The Writer's Forensics blog. Man, I sound like I'm very obsessed with death and violence here, but I'm not, I promise. This is a blog written by forensics experts, for writers.

Text Block Writer is a free download I just discovered. It's an index card system that can be used for plotting. Just what I've been looking for!

http://text-block-writer.en.softonic.com/?gclid=CIqE1Lnc5qsCFYoDQAodoT5vKw

Here's my list of links from last year. You can also look at my list of writing links on trunk.ly: http://trunkly.com/etoiline/writing/ which is updated whenever I find a writing-related link.

Write or Die makes you write:
http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html

Figure out that that word you've been looking for, and other geeky word tools:
http://lifehacker.com/5686521/the-best-language-tools-for-geeks

Writing Prompts:
http://www.toasted-cheese.com/webcal/webcal.cgi
http://community.livejournal.com/charloft/
http://oneword.com/

Writing Communities:
http://community.livejournal.com/nanowrimo/

All sorts of name generators:
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php
http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/

Track your progress:
http://writingblog.truckpoetry.net/search/label/Author%20Resources
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3747699 (link doesn't work; only here for editing purposes, sorry!)
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3710975 (link doesn't work; only here for editing purposes, sorry!)
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3718566 (link doesn't work; only here for editing purposes, sorry!)
Trackers and other resources: http://www.kkitts.net/downloads/downloads.html

Write on the go:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3701074 (link doesn't work; only here for editing purposes, sorry!)

Feed your writing (a NaNo cookbook):
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3702706 (link doesn't work; only here for editing purposes, sorry!)

Writing software:
NaNo Sponsor Literature and Latte's Scrivener: http://literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.html
NaNoWriTool: http://nanowritool.sourceforge.net/
Software and other things: http://flavorwire.com/125670/7-novel-writing-tools-for-nanowrimo

Tips from Authors:
Everything you need to know about writing, by Stephen King: http://www.greatwriting.co.uk/content/view/312/74/
NaNo Tips: http://jessrosen.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/nano-tips-and-tricks/
Ignoring the NaNo haters: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/11/11/nanowrimo-and-kvetching/

Word fun:
http://www.wordle.net
Have a laugh at other people's lack of grammar: http://grammatically.blogspot.com
Don't misuse quotation marks: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/
..or apostrophes: http://www.apostropheabuse.com/ AND http://www.apostrophecatastrophes.com/

I mentioned this podcast at the writing meeting tonight in Maplewood, but there is a great podcast for writing topics called Writing Excuses. Each episode is only 15 minutes long because you don't have that much time, and they're not that smart -- direct quote from them. You can find that at http://www.writingexcuses.com.

For all the details on both Windows and Mac versions of Scrivener, and the NaNoWriMo fully-functional trial version, check this NaNo forum: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/special-offers-and-greetings-from-nano-sponsors/threads/565

We spoke about Lorem Ipsum generators last night at the workshop, and if you're handwriting your novel, they can be really useful. There are a lot of them out there, but this one is especially cute.

http://cupcakeipsum.com.

~j

I still want an edit function. Until then, more links in posts!

Another word tracker spreadsheet set: http://svenjaliv.deviantart.com/gallery/26876922#/d4cr5sv

~j

The NaNo cookbook is back: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forum_comments/341020

~j

http://postlikeapirate.com/ Its a pirate speech translator. Its a fun link, and was very helpful on 'Talk Like a Pirate Day.' I thought I'd share if anyone needs help with pirate speech. I have pirates in my novel and I'm forcing them to talk the over-the-top way that real pirates really didn't talk like. :)

bump to top. maybe need a sticky :)

Written? Kitten!

You set the target number of words, and every time you get there, you get a pic of a cute kitten!

http://phrontistery.info/ (Word lists for rare/unused words, histories, etc)
http://worldwidewords.org/ More word histories and such, with a weekly newsletter.

~j