As a writer and blogger, there are many tools and resources I use frequently. Creating content across many platforms, planning posts, and managing future ideas, can quickly get hectic. There is just so much to organize and keep track of. Here is a comprehensive list of both physical and digital resources that help me organize and simplify my creativity.
Notion - This website is my holy grail. This is an absolute must. Notion is a site and an app on your phone. You can create digital notebooks, files, and pages in Notion. Anything you write will sync across all your devices immediately. Notion lets you organize, plan, make bulleted lists, add files, add images, insert tables, and so much more. Truly the features are endless. It also has a recent AI feature that can help you brainstorm ideas in a rut. Notion is aesthetically pleasing, extremely customizable, and is my absolute catch-all where I store all my information. I can easily draft up posts and projects in Notion and then copy paste them on to my blog, other writing platforms, or social media. Notion is the true digital notebook of this age! In fact, my usage of Google Docs and Microsoft Word took a nosedive after I picked up Notion a few years back.
A Physical Journal / Notebook - You can never go on with a good old fashioned notebook. I am old-school in the fact that I love good old pen on paper. I love any moment I can go screen-less and really connect with the materials in my hand. I keep a small notebook with me to jot down any spur of the moment ideas. Usually, when I sit down at my laptop or have my phone on in hand, ready to post...I run out of ideas. The minute I am going about my day, at the most random moments, inspiration will strike. I will quickly jot it down. It helps a lot when I sit down in front of a screen the next time and have my notes to refer to. I also love decorating my journals with pictures and stickers. Anything hands-on and creative, really sparks my motivation.
Pentel Energel X 0.7 Gel Pens / Pilot G2 Gel Pens - To go along with the journal, any one of these two gel pens is my favorite. They are both smooth, thick, and rich in ink. They glide easily and produce good handwriting. Definitely recommend!
Grammarly Extension - This one is obvious. Anyone who writes anything has the Grammarly browser extension. It is just a time-saving way to proofread your grammar and sentence structure before you hit post.
Linkedin - This one might seem random. Linkedin is actually one of my favorite platforms for writing. It is a job-hunting platform, but it has a huge and very active writing community on it. You can meet writers from all niches on Linkedin. Many writers will post educational and useful content about writing. It is a great place for networking, building your professional brand as a writer, and digitally marketing your services.
Canva - This is graphic designing and photo editing app with endless possibilities. You can edit photos, create blog post graphics, social media post graphics, pinterest covers, presentation slides, portfolios, and so forth. It has a massive assortment of fonts, features, stickers, colors, and graphics. This is an app and site. Canva, like Notion is my absolute essential. No other editing or designing app can compare.
Contra - This is an online portfolio builder that has a clean and stylish user interface. It lets your embed your writing projects and creates a neat little page with all your best work. You can easily share your link with others and anyone can view your comprehensive portfolio.
Pinterest - Bloggers thrive on Pinterest. We can post photos, blog post graphics, short videos, and link it all back to our blogs. One of the best apps to drive genuine traffic and build an audience.
Substack - An email newsletter platform on which you can post articles and gain a readership that will receive your posts directly in their inbox. It helps you build up an emailing list and monetize your work. Substack offers subscriptions with tiers based on the content you will provide in each tier. People can subscribe to your basic work for free, or subscribe to your higher tiers to receive extra content and personalized articles by you.
These are my essentials as a writer! I use all of these tools regularly. What are your favorite writing tools?
Thanks for reading!
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