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I just bought Scrivener for Windows on sale for $20 on AppSumo!! (It’s normally $40 USD. They also have it for Mac on sale for the same price.) I’ve heard so many other writers I trust rave about Scrivener, but I was on the fence; I like Word, and I have some separate programs that do some of the things Scrivener does. But I love the idea of all my material for a novel in one place, and also some of the other things Scrivener lets you do (see your novel in outline quickly, move chapters around easily, etc etc).

The sale price pulled me in. There’s about 6 hours left to the sale if you’re interested. I wanted to let everyone know, because I’ve been looking for Scrivener to go on sale for years, and I’ve never seen it on sale except for NaNoMo writers (which I don’t do).

Sure your browser has a built-in spell checker. But does it catch everything? Check out these free browser-based & online Proofreading tools (spelling & grammar) that can help you catch more mistakes.

Are you a writer? Editor? Publisher? Then you might want to seriously consider being on Twitter.

Yeah, I know–another social networking tool. Do you really need another? But I’ve found it a great tool for finding out what’s going on in the publishing world; connecting with other writers; and finding new books I might enjoy. I’ve also been using it to try to promote my own books.

For a fantastic article on how children’s and YA writers (or any writer) can use Twitter to help them, check out @inkyelbows article.

Still not convinced? Read this wonderful, detailed article by @charabbott that documents some surges in book buying because of Twitter.

I frequently share useful writing articles on Twitter; you can follow me at @CherylRainfield

I love using to-do lists. They help me stay organized. So I really enjoyed looking at this to-do list that’s a temporary tattoo. You put it on your hand (or wherever), and use the skin-safe gel pen to write out your list. I’m not sure I’d want to write my list on my hand–I’ve never been a write-notes-on-hand-person–but it was so fun to look at!

What do you think? Would you use it? Would you give it to someone who loves to-do lists?

Thanks to teralynnchilds on Twitter for the link.

I don’t know about you, but I have a heck of a lot of USB devices on my computer (mouse, pen drives, mini drives, keyboard, etc.). And I’m, ahem, not very patient with computer stuff; I want things to be instant and easy and just…fast. I don’t always go through the whole right-click-turn-off-usb-drive before I unplug stuff I use every day. (Do you havev to go through the whole rigamarole with an ebook reader? I’m assuming you do.)

Well, Gizmo pointed out a solution–USB Safely Remove 4.1–software that makes unplugging USB devices easy. And what’s even better is that this software is free until Aug 25 (it normally costs $20). So, if you have lots of USB devices like me, check it out!

I’ve found a lot of very useful, free software over the years via Gizmo; I trust him.

Hey, it’s been a week or so since I last posted. How did the time slip by?

By my being completely immersed in a FANTASTIC writing course by Margie Lawson–Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist. If you’re a writer, or someone you care about is a writer, Margie’s courses are a wonderful gift and a great spur forward into better writing and editing.

Margie’s a psychologist, and she knows a LOT about what works in fiction, what doesn’t, and why, as well as body language. Her courses (and lecture packets) are PACKED with useful information, techniques, and examples from bestsellers. The courses take a big time commitment, with a LOT of info and assignments coming at you, so if you don’t have the time, pick up one of her packets. I think you’ll get a lot out of it.

Margie has all her courses available as lecture packets online for only $20 each. These courses are extensive, with more than 280 pages of information for each course, delving into very helpful editing techniques, body language info, and more. Or, if you’re lucky enough to take her online course (she only teaches those once a year) or even more lucky to see her in person, you’re in for a real treat! Her online courses are only $30–an incredible deal for the amount of information, wisdom, insight, and good feedback you get. I highly recommend her!

What can be better than a FREE Writers’ Conference? Free is often a helpful thing, especially for writers, who often don’t have much money. And when the FREE conference is an online writers’ conference, where there is no expense for traveling or where to stay, AND there’s the added bonus that publishers and agents will be on hand to take pitches from writers, it sounds pretty amazing.

It sounds like the conference is open to all writers (so that’s one thing that’s missing for me–I like children’s/YA specific writing conferences, or genre specific). But good writing is writing, and we can all learn from it.

The 2009 online conferrence will take place on October 12-18, 2009.

Registration for the conference is now open.

DEADLINE for registering is AUGUST 1, 2009.

For more information, check out www.themuseonlinewritersconference.com

We writers are always looking for techniques to improve our writing and revision of that writing, and tools we can use.

Darcy Patterson, writer and writing teacher, teaches a technique to revise your manuscript called The Shrunken Manuscript. I haven’t taken her course, but I read her blog regularly. If you’re a writer, check out her blog; it’s a valuable resource.

The Shrunken Manuscript sounds interesting–a visual way to see the tension in your manuscript, what’s working and what isn’t. I haven’t tried the technique yet–I only just stumbled upon it–but I’m intrigued.

Author Sarah Miller tried out The Shrunken Manuscript, and you can see the result below. It involves the manuscript printed in a tiny font (Sarah used 4 pt type), some scribbling, and lots of sparkles.

You can read how to use The Shrunken Manuscript on your own manuscript.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the video.

Wordle is both a fun time waster for people who like words, and a useful tool for writers. You can upload any text you want into Wordle, and play with the fonts, colors, and layouts, and it will produce a picture based on the words, visually showing you the words you’ve used most frequently. The most frequently used words appear the largest. You can see where this can come in handy for fiction writers, especially, finding overused words, as well as themes, plot threads, etc that are used the most frequently throughout a book.

The results can be aesthetically pleasing as well as interesting and possibly useful. If you want to keep the image you’ve created just for yourself, don’t save it on Wordle. (Save it via an screenshot utility. You can also save it as a .pdf file; see Wordle’s FAQ for help.) Otherwise, anything you save will be available for anyone to print out or use. You might not want to do that with, say, your novel. On the other hand, I think it could make a small though neat promotional tool, especially if you save it under the book’s title and with your name. I saw a few on Wordle like that–and while I didn’t stay to peruse them, I did see the books’ titles–which is part of book promotion.

Thanks to Justine Larbalestier and her wonderful post on Wordle and how she used it for her novels, for introducing me to Wordle’s usefulness and fun play factor.

You need to have Java installed on your computer or your browser in order to view the Wordle creations.

From New Zealand’s lively children’s book community, today we feature two great resources. At Bookrapt, brainchild of the Bay of Plenty Children’s Literature Association, you’ll find a great list of resources for writers and aspiring writers: competitions, publishers, advice, awards, literary organizations, industry news and more. If you’re feeling rejected (or just have those northern hemisphere winter blues), check out their list of prominent writers and the number of rejections each received getting a book deal. It’s sure to bring a little sunshine into any writer’s or aspiring writer’s life!

And Storylines, the Kiwi IBBY site, is such rich territory that the rest of this post is littered with links. The annual Storylines Festival in June connects children and families with writers and illustrators. Four literary-related prizes are awared annually. The national Mahy Award in March and the Gilderdale Award in October recognize outstanding contributions to children’s literature. The Gaelyn Gordon Award is for a much-loved book that hasn’t yet won a major award. Support for developing and unpublished writers come in the Tom Fitzgibbon Award for a chapter book and the Joy Cowley Award for a picture book.

Storylines also recommends lists of books (not all New Zealand-published) for children. Their annual Notable Books List this year is of books for and about children with disabilities.