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There are already a bunch of online thesaurus sites out there, like Thesaurus.com, Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus, Collins Thesaurus, Visual Thesaurus and others, but Power Thesaurus was the first crowd-sourced online thesaurus I've come across.

I like the clean interface, without all kinds of ads cluttering the space. Just noticed that my friend Tara Lazar also likes it:

I prefer https://t.co/DzrosrUnZD because it's really fast. It doesn't load with tons of ads. Gets me to the word I want FASTER. #amwriting

— 匕คrค lคzค尺 ツ (@taralazar) September 2, 2015

Power Thesaurus creator Alexander Radyushin kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me:

Q. What made you decide to start Power Thesaurus?

Few years ago I was developing a presentation about website development and it became obvious to me that existing thesauri are simply too inconvenient to use as well as their content is not up to date considering the modern pace of language development. So, for me it was obvious that somebody has to combine the power of crowdsourcing with modern web usability standards and create a user-oriented online thesaurus that is been developed for one primary goal - assist user in their pursuit for most relevant terms. In comparison to other similar tools (like thesaurus.com), Power Thesaurus has a greater focus on clean content presentation and ability to narrow down the lists by using parts of speech and/or topic filters.

Q. What has feedback been like so far?

We have a very positive response from writing community. We see a stable growth of regular users as well as very positive reviews of Power Thesaurus by writers in their emails, blogs and social networks. Some of them are listed here: http://www.powerthesaurus.org/_testimonials and in Twitter search https://twitter.com/search?q=powerthesaurus

Q. Any plans for future improvements you'd like to share?

At the moment we are completely rewriting the website and applications (iOS and Android) to a new version of Power Thesaurus that will have a large number of updates in all areas. Few of them are: richer content like phrases, more functionality like term popularity and definitions, upgraded look & feel, including personal customizations, International versions. Some people say that Power Thesaurus is already almost a perfect online thesaurus, however our team still see the potential for a great number of further improvement that will keep us very busy at least in the following years.

Feel free to try out Power Thesaurus yourself: Powerthesaurus.org.

Are you a Power Thesaurus fan? Is there another online writer's thesaurus you'd like to recommend? Feel free to post below.

Morning writer.

Since I started getting picture book contracts (yay!) I've put my novel writing on the back burner. Then last summer at SCBWI-LA, I was talking with my editor at Simon & Schuster (Justin Chanda) about my middle grade novels and time management. Justin said that if my novel writing was important to me, I needed to set aside some regular time to work on it...no matter how much other work I had going on.

Absolutely! I said. I am SO going to do this. And yeah, well. I was right on top of that for a few weeks and then the reality of work deadlines plus personal commitments pushed my novel projects onto the back burner again.

I've since come to terms with this. I am having SO much fun with my picture book projects these days and things are very busy for me in a good way. To those who didn't know: I used to write nonfiction while I worked on middle grade novels; Writer's Digest even asked me to write a book for them. I met my wonderful agent because of my middle grade writing, through children's book writer, Lee Wardlaw; Lee critiqued one of my first MG novels (thank you, Lee!). The two middle grade manuscripts that Ginger and I sent out never found a home, though we got close a couple of times near the end. I could tell from the rejection letters that my writing was improving. I shelved the older mss and began working on new stories. One of my new manuscripts that never got sent out was nominated for the SCBWI Sue Alexander "Most Promising For Publication" Award; it didn't win but the nomination was encouraging; I could tell I was getting closer.

Then my picture book illustration career took off, thanks to the SCBWI and Simon & Schuster Children's. My heart is in picture books now, and I always want to help create them...I love this genre SO MUCH and connecting with the young readers continues to be one of my greatest joys.

There is still a part of my creative soul, however, that is still drawn to middle grade novels. I read middle grade constantly; not for market research but because I've always enjoyed reading them. It's okay that my novel writing on the back burner right now, but that doesn't mean I can't still keep writing! Even if it's only for a few minutes a day. 

So I decided recently to get back on my own 250, 500 and 1000 Words A Day Challenge.

 I created this challenge for those who are looking for extra motivation to get back into a daily writing habit but who also need some flexibility. Challenges like NaNoWriMo are wonderful (I've done Nano in the past and had great fun) but can sometimes be discouraging if, for whatever reason, you start falling behind.

Anyway, I have been trying something new which has been working pretty well, so I thought I'd share it. Here's what I do:

I bought the iAWriter app for my Mac and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and use it for my daily morning writing ritual. I've played around with MANY note-taking apps on my iOS devices ever since the first iPhone came out, and this remains one of the favorites because of its minimalist approach.

No settings to fiddle with, which means I'm not as likely to procrastinate. I love the easy-to-read monospaced font. 

I find using my iPad with my external keyboard works the best for this. Why not my Mac? Because I do most of my book illustration project work on my Mac, doing morning writing on a separate and very portable device helps deceive the "oh my gosh I can't work on my novel I need to get back to contracted paying work" part of my brain. Sounds stupid, I know, but I find it helps me focus. I can also take my iPad outside of the house at a moment's notice and work on my writing ANYWHERE.

When it comes to later revisions, I'll probably go back to my desktop computer so I can take advantage of the bigger screen space and two monitors. For a first draft, however, my iPad is perfect. I also tend to be the kind of writer who over-edits as she writes, and I'm finding that writing on a smaller screen encourages me to keep writing (editing is more of a pain). I know I will revise later. 

After I finish my session in iAWriter, I send the document to my Evernote account; happily, I can do this from within the iAWriter app. I know there are many other means of backing up my data and getting writing snippets to my desktop computer. I have tried many of them. This is the way that seems to work best for me, mainly because I don't need to open any other app that may possibly distract me. Did I mention that I'm easily distracted?

From the iAWriter app, I can share directly to Evernote and even choose the receiving project folder. I figure that I can always organize later on; I try to put a note at the beginning like "near end of book" etc. I also tend to write in scenes and snippets rather than from start to finish, and will organize them later. I *used* to write from start to finish but found that I tended to overedit and spend way too much time near the beginning.

I use Evernote for so much more, of course. Two of my favorite features: (1) with the paid version of Evernote, you can email anything to your Evernote account, and (2) when searching for a word or term in Evernote, the search will include any scanned documents...including business cards and handwritten notes (!).

I also use the Day One app for my Mac and iOS devices. I've tried other journaling tools before but like Day One the best because of its super-simple interface without all the bells and whistles.

As with iAWriter, I'm drawn to the minimalist interface because it makes it very easy for me to just open and use, without being tempted to tweak settings. 

I've been using the app to quickly record ideas and thoughts and character/title ideas as well as other personal observations, and I use tags (like "goals", "bookidea" etc.) so I can access them more easily later. One of my tags is "happy," by the way...whenever I'm feeling down, browsing all my "happy" entries always cheers me up. Another is "thanks", which I also try to use each day, to write down people and things and events I'm grateful for. 

I also use the DayOne app to quickly snap photos, which is great for grabbing a reference photo for illustration, character idea, a friend's book I want to read, etc. You can only take one photo per entry, though. If you plan to do this a LOT, I'd recommend Evernote instead. Also, you can share DayOne photos/text to social media as well! I don't do this, though; I'm too worried about accidentally sharing a post that's meant to be private. :-)

I do love Scrivener, by the way, and use it for many of my book projects (more on this in a future post), but the lack of easy syncing across all my devices makes it tough to count on Scrivener for my daily writing exercise.

Do you have any tools or tips to share that you've found useful in your writing? Feel free to share them below.

Good luck with your writing!

I had never heard of the Groovboard until Thomas Borowski approached me via Twitter about reviewing his company's product. I generally don't do product reviews anymore but when I checked out the GroovBoard website, I was so intrigued that I asked Thomas a few questions and then said I'd be happy to check one out.

The GroovBoard functions as an lap desk and an iPad stand, with grooves for inserting your iPad and a Bluetooth keyboard (in flat mode, I found I didn't really need the keyboard groove; see above photo) as well as built-in holders for a stylus. 

One of my first questions to Thomas: "How heavy is it?" The answer: Depending on the type of wood, a Groovboard can weigh between 1.7 to 2.6 lbs (800-1200 grams). I asked for the lightest type, so Thomas sent me the American walnut model:

My GroovBoard arrived from Germany in good condition, and I immediately tried it out to see what the weight was like:

(Above: I'm wearing the cool Autodesk Sketchbook t-shirt I got at Febtor)

Good news: I don't notice the weight at all. It's sturdy enough that I don't feel as if my iPad is going to tip it over, but it's not so heavy that the weight is uncomfortable.  It's a bit too bulky for me to want to travel with it, but it's perfect for couch writing. According to the website, there is also a GroovBoard cushion available.

The GroovBoard also separates into two pieces in case you want to use it as an iPad stand/prop for watching movies or typing with or without the keyboard:

If you want to use it this way with a keyboard, just hang the keyboard from the upper groove:

That photo is from the GroovBoard site, by the way -- I don't wear nail polish. :-)

SUMMARY:

I've been using the GroovBoard for several weeks now, and I love it. So does my husband -- he plans to order one for himself. I keep my GroovBoard in the living room beside the couch. Some might also use it to do writing or watching movies in bed.

The model I reviewed (GroovBoard Walnut) costs $129 fro non-EU customers, plus shipping.

Where to find out more:

Website: http://groovboard.co

Twitter: https://twitter.com/groovboard

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Groovboard

I’ve been working on more graphic illustration projects lately, and have been looking for a good brainstorming tool. Scrivener is good for text only but not as easy to use when it comes to combining images and text in different configurations on the fly. Corel Painter is great for pure illustration but not as good for illustration and text brainstorming.

I was prompted to download a 60-day free trial version of Zengobi’s Curio when I found out that it was hooked with up Evernote. I love Evernote and love the idea of having everything I send to Evernote immediately available to me within Curio.

During my trial period, I’m going to try using Curio as a place to collect story seeds: clippings, thoughts, scribbles, photos, music — pretty much anything that could come together to spark a story. When a story idea gels enough, I’ll switch to Scrivener to work on the detailed outline and text. Though for picture books and graphic novel projects, who knows? Maybe Curio would be a good fit.

If you’re curious to find out more about Curio:

Zengobi’s Curio site
Angela Booth’s review: “Curio, Writer’s Gem”
New York Times review of Curio
TUAW review of Curio

I came across a “Protected by Copyscape” banner in a writer’s blog and was curious enough to check out the service. From their About page:

Copyscape is dedicated to protecting your valuable content online. We provide the world’s most powerful and most popular online plagiarism detection solutions, ranked #1 by independent tests. Copyscape’s products are trusted by millions of website owners worldwide to check the originality of their new content, prevent duplicate content, and search for copies of existing content online.
Copyscape provides a free service for finding copies of your web pages online, as well as two more powerful professional solutions for preventing content theft and content fraud.

I’ve heard mixed reviews about this service — has anyone used it? I tried it with pages from my site but didn’t have much luck because of my site layout: because I have navigation sidebars that repeat throughout the site, Copyscape kept picking up that text so the results always gave me my own site pages. I was using the free service, however, so was only seeing the first 10 results.

Anyone else have luck using this service?

I’m a huge fan of productivity tools, and one of my current favourites is Cultured Code’s Things. I was reading a post by Gail Carson Levine on handling the passage of time in storytelling, and came across a book recommendation. Ordinarily, I’d be torn at this point. Do I finish reading the post, or go make [...]

Thanks to Ryan Couldrey for letting me know about Adobe® Story, “a collaborative script development tool designed for creative professionals, producers, and writers working on or with scripts and screenplays.” You can try out a preview of Adobe Story at Adobe Labs. I’m going to check this out as a potential tool for scripting graphic novels. Thanks, [...]

QueryTracker.net is helpful for any writer who is in the process of seeking an agent. The site has over 1200 literary agents listed and according to stats on the site, has already helped 183 writers find agents. You can find stats and other info about different agents, plus organize and track your query letters.

Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. I am SO going to try this app today!

I likely wouldn’t use this for my regular writing (yet) but I’m going to try it as a daily writing exercise to get my creative gears moving. I also tend to edit way too much as I write instead of getting everything down FIRST and then revise later. Hopefully Write or Die will help get me out of this habit. I’ll report back in a little while to let you know if it worked.

My only beef: You have to have a browser open in order to use it. I’d pay money for a desktop standalone app or an iPhone app like this.

So I’ve decided to switch to ProgPress by Jason Penny as my Wordpress plugin (see my right-hand navigation bar, partway down the page) because I can list multiple writing projects within the same widget.

I avoided the plugin at first because (at first glance, at least), it looked more complicated than the other choices, plus the user documentation needs a bit of help. However, I like the flexibility and customization possibilities of this app. Here’s a quickie tutorial on how you can use it for your own Wordpress blog:

1. Download the plugin.

2. Activate the plugin (Appearance -> Widgets).

3. Adjust the settings to what you want (Settings -> ProgPress):

Here are the settings I used to show the progress bars in a text widget. I’m assuming that checking “Display in posts” will add the bars to ever blog post, which I didn’t want.

Here’s what I put in the text widget:

I couldn’t figure out what that third numeric field was for. It’s labelled as “PreviousCount” but it didn’t seem to have any effect so I just put “xxx.” I’m going to e-mail Jason for info.

I’ve haven’t done much customizing yet (colour, size of bar, etc.), plus I’ll probably add some text at the top of the widget with a link to the graphic novel blog I maintain with Beckett Gladney.

And you can see the results at the top of this page. Um, I haven’t started the rewrite of my new sf/fantasy novel yet.

Anyway, it wasn’t as complicated as I had anticipated. If you’re still intimidated by the above, however, you may want to stick with a plugin like the Scribometer, though it currently only supports one project at a time.