My Top 12 Writing Resources

Hey hey friend! 

If you're a writer but struggle with finding good resources that will help you grow in your craft, you're in luck today! Over the past couple years as I've gotten more serious about my writing, I've discovered some absolutely fantastic writing websites, books, and communities that have given me some of the best writing advice out there! And I thought I would share some of my favorites and why they're my favorites with you in case you happen to be looking for some. XD 

So without further ado, here are my top twelve writing resources (in no particular order 😜)!

1. Teen Writers' Nook 

Teen Writers' Nook is one of my absolute favorites! What I love about Teen Writers' Nook is that it's specifically geared to well, teens! All their posts are for young writers who are in any stage of writing! They have everything from practical writing advice to author interviews to bookish DIYs and more. Whether you're a newbie who's working on a short story or a writer who's drafted five novels, they're here provide encouragement, support, and advice!

2. Story Embers

Story Embers is awesome! Amongst other resources, they have free guides, a TON of blog posts, a podcast, online conferences, and courses you can buy! Also, they do allow submissions so if you would ever like to write an article for them, then there's a possibility that you could get published! Overall, Story Embers is an excellent website that I know will help you grow in your writing. 

3. Kingdom Pen

Like the above websites, Kingdom Pen is one that has free resources, a blog, a forum, and allows submissions. Run by some people who are closely connected to the folks over at Story Embers, Kingdom Pen may look very similar to Story Embers. Yet there are some differences between the two communities, so both are worth checking out! 

4. The Young Writer

The Young Writer is a thoughtfully constructed company that I love. On their basic website, they have blog posts, free guidebooks, and a free and fun assessment that helps you see what stage of a writer you're are! But that's not all. The founders (Brett Harris and Jaquelle Ferris) of The Young Writer also started The Young Writer's Workshop! The Young Writer's Workshop is a program designed to help young writers grow in their understanding of writing, write more, find their community of like-minded people, and help them reach their writing goals! In the program, you'll find lessons on different writing topics, author interviews, writing challenges and so much more! There's also a private community you can join where you'll find some of the most incredible young writers out there! I was in the program for a year, and that's where I met some of my most amazing friends! Now you do have to pay for the Young Writer's Workshop (and even if you're on a scholarship it can get pretty pricey after awhile when you're having to pay for it youself 😅) so if you're not in a place where you're ready to pay for something like that, I'd stick with the free resources and challenges. Oh yes, did I mention the free challenges? WELL. Every January the leaders of the Young Writer's Workshop host a free weeklong event called Crazy Writing Week. And I'm not exaggerating, Crazy Writing Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year! That week, hundreds of writers come together and are split up onto teams to write as much as they possibly can in order to win some EPIC (and yes, they really are epic!) prizes, beat the other team (cause what's a challenge without friendly competition?) and of course, make progress on their writing (cause that's the whole point of it *coughs*). If you love late night writing sprints, winning awards, and meeting cool people, then Crazy Writing Week is for you! (Oh and if you love Veggie Tales then it's for you. Yup. Veggie Tales. If you're not a fan of Veggie Tales, then CWW probably isn't the place for you because of well...reasons *grins and cackles*). But CWW isn't the only free writing challenge! Throughout other parts of the year (specifically May and August) they'll host different writing challenges or summits that will help you grow in your writing! Overall, The Young Writer is one of the resources that has impacted my writing journey the most, and if you're interested in any part of it (whether it's just the free resources or the paid programs) then check it out! 

5. The Author Conservatory

The Author Conservatory is similar to The Young Writer. It was founded and is run by most of The Young Writer peeps, but the Conservatory is on a deeper level than The Young Writer. It's essentially a substitute for college where you get training in writing and business. It's for the writers who are willing to set up small business, wanting to publish their stories, and are trying to make writing not just a hobby but a career. It's intense and writing has to be a big enough passion for you in order to be successful, but from what I've heard (I've actually never done it) it's a great program! 

6. Go Teen Writers

Go Teen Writers is so fun and helpful! Hosted by three popular authors, GTW has helpful blog posts on various writing-related topics, free ebooks and downloads, and a whole page of other recommended resources! Outside of their website, they've also written two books on how to write and edit your novel, and every summer they host the Go Teen Writers 100-for-100! In general, there's just a lot of wonderful content for writers in all different stages on GTW!

7. Now Novel

Now Novel is a website not just for learning about writing, but for actually writing. Not only does it have a blog, webinars, coaching, and curriculums, Now Novel also has a "dashboard" area where you can work on your story idea. Now, you have to pay for a lot of the resources on there. But the dashboard is free and if you're looking for someplace to create characters and your story's central idea (which are the free parts you get when you sign up for a profile and dashboard) it's an awesome place to start! 

8. Reedsy

Reedsy...can be overwhelming when you first go to the website, to be honest lol. There's just so much! XD For starters, on the main website you can find (and obviously pay for) editors, designers, publicists, etc. There's also Reedsy Discovery where you can find books, a blog, a place for live chats, and a whole space with writing prompts and writing competitions. AND you can make an account for free and work on your writing project. It's basically like a Google/Word doc, but this place for your manuscript has some cool features such as a spellcheck, a place to set goals, and more. Overall, this is a great place to write your draft! So Reedsy can be kinda crazy at first, but once you look around and get used to it, it's a super helpful tool! 

9. Squiber (specifically The Most Dangerous Writing App)

Squiber is fantastic! While I believe you have to pay for some of the programs in it, they do have a blog with posts on "How To Write a [novel, screenplay, etc] in x number of steps" which look great! They also have courses, classes, and templates among other resources but I haven't really checked all of it out. The main reason why I love Squiber is because of The Most Dangerous Writing App! This is a space where for five minutes (or more or less, you can change the time) you have to keep typing words or else you'll lose everything. It's a great way to write without fearing that you'll mess up/want to fix misspelled words/correct grammar because it doesn't underline words in red if they're wrong. And if you do take the time to fix something then you're risking losing everything because you're not typing out new words hehe. XD It's also a great practice to just get the words flowing and the brain in the writing mindset. If you do happen to finish and like what you wrote, then you can save it either by copy+pasting it into your normal document (there's also a way you can export it, but I don't know how that works lol). 

10. MasterClass Articles

MasterClass is a lifesaver! They have articles for fiction writers but also articles on non-fiction, literature, poetry and more. They're easy to read, short, and give lots of good info! Highly recommend!

11. Abbie Emmons

Abbie Emmon's website is a wonderful place to check out if you want advice and encouragement not just on writing, but also on the publishing, blogging, and business industry! And she also has posts on life encouragement, productivity, etc. But that's not all! She also has YouTube videos, and has published two fiction books! (You might have heard of her book, 100 Days of Sunlight. It's been on my TBR for a long time haha!) So, her content is terrific and is worth looking into! 

12. Lose the Very

Lose the Very is simple. Want to spice up your writing and not use "very+bland adjective" as much? Go to Lose the Very where you'll see Very + [a space to type in your word] =. Type in any word and after the equal sign a fresh, more interesting adjective will pop up! And you can push Enter as many times as you want for more synonyms. It's a super easy way to find more vivid words! And there's also a newsletter you can sign up for which will sometimes send emails on copywriting tips and Word of the Day. All great stuff! (Note: Lose the Very doesn't have answers for every word you enter. For example if you put in "interesting" then there's a slew of words you can go through, but if you enter "enchanting" then it will say that it's not added yet. As for if you type in "very"? Well, I'll let you see what happens for yourself *grins*). 

Note: not all of these sites are explicitly Christian. While some of them (like Teen Writers' Nook, Kingdom, Pen, and Story Embers) are run by Christians and will have clean/Christian content, I don't know if they all do. I haven't had any issues so far, but just know that I may not necessarily support everything on these sites.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this post, and discovered some resources that you want to check out! Thanks for reading and have a bright and beautiful rest of your day, my friend! <3

~The Bookdragon 

Let's Talk!

Have you heard of any of the resources? If you haven't, does one stand out to you that you want to look into? Are there other writing websites or books that you recommend?