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Worthy Writing Tools

© Randi Field

Good writing is only as good as the writer's grammar skills. That being the case, let's start with the basics. A very useful site to rely on is Guide to Grammar and Writing , a wonderful compilation of writing tools. Tips are provided at various levels. The sentence level explains verbs, clauses, punctuation, articles, modifiers, capitalization, abbreviations, concise writing, parallel structures, vocabulary builders and spelling rules. The paragraph level gives tips on sentence variety, tense consistency, pronoun reference, coherence, transitions and paragraph development. The essay level includes principles of composition with handouts on getting started, structure, tone, transitions, editing, formats and research. Sample essays are provided.

The guide also provides interactive computer-graded quizzes to test your grammar knowledge of grammar as well as links to several other quality writing sources.

For more helpful grammar information, visit:

Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr: Self-explanatory.

Proofreading symbols and abbreviations : Includes helpful proofreading strategies.

An Elementary Grammar : An entire grammar book online.

Writing Guide to Grammar and Style : Useful guide with links to other grammar sites.

All teachers, tutors and homeschooling parents are invited to visit About Great Grammar! : Includes detailed information on a series of English/ESL and FSL grammar workbooks for grades 5-10.

Even with good grammar skills, a writer always needs reliable resource tools. No writer would be caught scribbling without a good dictionary and thesaurus. My recommendations are:

Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary and Thesaurus : This one needs no explanation, nor do the next few.

Roget's Thesaurus : An interactive version.

The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server

Rhyming Dictionary : Dr. Suess would have loved this one.

The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary : dik'shun-air-ee

Casey's Snow Day Reverse Dictionary : Not just for dyslexic writers. Type in the definition and get a list of words that fit.

We can't forget those research papers. If you've been staring at the same blank page for the past hour, chances are you have nothing to say. How do you come up with something to say? A trip to the library is always helpful (see my earlier article on library sites). And, of course, there's nothing like a good encyclopedia for researching important information you want to write about. Try out:

Encyclopedia.Co : More than 17,000 articles from The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Entries are short but quite useful.