As part of our continuing series to help you in developing compelling content, today we provide you a list of the top 11 online resources to help you improve your writing skills.
The Elements of Style - there is no better resource for writers than William Strunk's classic. I have a well-thumbed hard copy, but this online version covers the writing bases.
100 Useful Web Tools For Writers - Whether poet, biographer, journalist, blogger or technical writer, you'll find a helpful tool in this list.
Problogger - Darren Rowse is one of the best, most successful bloggers on the planet. Problogger provides advice on everything from writing good headlines to how to come up with story ideas.
Poynter's Fifty Writing Tools - For the auditory learner, there is Poynter's index of podcasts that cover the nuts and bolts of writing.
Lifehack on Communications - I love Lifehack for its tips on a range of topics like productivity, technology and of course, communications.
Grammar Girl - Mignon Fogarty is Grammar Girl and she can explain split infinitives so simply that a Neanderthal could understand it.
Time To Write - Need inspiration? Well, here you go. This site is full of inspiration as well as tips to help writers along their way.
OWL - The OWL is Purdue University's online writing lab that features free writing resources and instructional material.
Common Errors In English Usage - If you don't know the difference between peak, peek and pique, then you need this site.
Grammar Slammer - Need help with capitalization, abbreviations or maybe your participle is dangling! Here it is.
Writing: The Online Community For Writers - Need to get advice from other writers? There are 819,000 members of this active forum.
In case you missed our initial posts on content development:
Five Key Elements To Creating Compelling Blog Content - I have been thinking a lot recently about creating compelling blog content, and at first blush, there seem to be a lot of barriers. But like getting over a barbed wire fence, you just have to step back for a minute and think through your approach so that you don't catch something important on a barb.
How To Be A More Compelling Writer - If you can afford it, hiring a good writer for your blog is solid advice. If you can't, then you need to become a better writer. A few simple things can help take your writing to the next level.
Great Images Make Content More Compelling - Good pictures alone are not enough. Photos can help draw attention to a post, keeping it from looking like a huge gray mass of words. But - to be most effective - the image must complement, or support the the story in some way.
WIIFM? - Today we're going to take a look at WIIFM, or What's In It For Me. You must answer some questions and perform a little research to find out what your readers or prospective readers truly want from your blog.