More Free Stuff for Writers and Writing Groups!

You can get a writing tool for free!

A few weeks ago I shared some free resources that can be helpful to writers and writing groups. Since then, I received some additional suggestions from some folks who read my post and others who are part of writing groups that I'm involved with. Since their suggestions seemed very useful, I wanted to pass them along to you. And the timing couldn't be better! Because of greed, the American economy is slowing, so now's a good time to avail yourself of free options:

Amp up your productivity. One of the best ways to strengthen your writing habit is to track your word count each day. Some writers use various project management apps, but others prefer no-fuss methods. A writer friend, who is in the no-fuss camp, forwarded to me a great resource: Nicole Bross, author, editor and book coach, makes it easy to monitor progress with her word count tracking spreadsheet. Using this simple tool, you can keep tabs on your daily effort and see your achievements over time. (My writer friend shares the results with his accountability group.) Thanks to Nicole's generosity, you can download it for free!

Another free resource to help you with your productivity is Joanna Penn's Productivity for Authors. She has shared the audiobook via YouTube at no cost! You'll get lots of great tips and advice to get control of your schedule, and form writing habits that will serve you and your projects. Plus, her personal stories are inspirational!

Get eyes on your manuscript. Beta readers read and provide feedback on your manuscript, which helps you understand what's working and what needs attention. If you're in a critique circle, you have access to beta readers. But if you're not in a group, or you'd like to experiment, you can try betareader.io--a platform that helps you streamline the reader process, organize feedback, embed surveys to target specific topics, and manage the effort with maximum efficiency. I haven't tried it yet, but a reader of my blog said he planned to experiment with the free level that allows one manuscript with up to three readers.

Bring a visualization to life to inspire yourself. Writing a book takes time, and many writers have mentioned in various outlets that they feel dips in their motivation during the process. A colleague from a writing community I'm a member of told me when she experiences creative low points, she combats them by using a free tool to mock up a book cover. While the final published cover might look very different, the sample cover is her way of keeping her goal front and center during the hard work of writing. You can design your sample cover using Canva or Book Brush--both offer free access with limits. GPT-4 offers the opportunity to create designs for free, but be forewarned that it's not always available and you may need to exercise some patience. And if you need some visual inspiration to get started, browsing through Midjourney's gallery of images is free. (You need to sign up in order to use Midjourney's tools.)

What free writing tools are you using? Let me know in the comments!