Internet Writing: Two Useful, Perhaps Unknown Tools

It has been some four decades since I began scribbling down myriad ideas large and small on numerous bits of paper with various writing implements. I would use whatever was handy in whatever venue I found myself, in hopes the idea wouldn't be lost when another one entered my mind. This was not a very efficient administrative system however. Many of my ideas over the years became casualties of laundry accidents by not emptying my pockets or simply not looking any different than any other old napkin on the car's floor. Still others would accumulate in the drawer of my nightstand only to be seen months later and leave me puzzling over 'what was I thinking?!' But scribbled notes were an essential tool for writing right from the get-go.

It was natural for me to seek a better solution and I was quick to embrace the idea of using computers to that end. I began that great improvement to my efforts when a '286' running at a screaming 16MHz sold for $2395 at Radio Shack. (Yes, that was quite a while ago...) At that time there was still quite a bit left to be desired in terms of computing power and the internet was still just a gleam in Al Gore's eye. The computer was an improvement nonetheless and I persevered in its use, knowing the technology would improve as time passed. But Roget and Webster were still never far from my side.

And improve it did! Fast-forward twenty years and writing has never been easier where available tools are concerned. Younger writers may not fully appreciate the difference between using Ctrl-c, Ctrl-v and Ctrl-x and doing the same functions with an Underwood, a razor blade and tape so please, just take my word for it. It is an experience you don't really need to have and a clacker typewriter and X-Acto knife are no longer tools you need to own in order to work in the writing field.

The shape of writing itself has changed as well with the advent of the internet. Not just in terms of where we write but HOW we write. For me the internet is itself a writing tool. But for many others

I have a little bag of tricks I use to make my life simpler as a writer, some of which are so 'old hat' to me I don't even think much of them. I still use the napkin system but not nearly as often since I carry a Dell notebook wherever I go and have Sprint Mobile Broadband. But I realized that two of these tricks from my toolbag may be of use to others and I'm offering them here as a favor to the writing community.

The first internet writing tool I think is pretty obvious but it may not be. The reason it is included is better explained in the second hint.

You can type a word or term in your favorite internet search engine or search toolbar and if it is spelled incorrectly the search engine will offer you an alternative. There are instances where this is not really helpful, such as 'there' and 'their' or even when you are looking for something more obscure like the spelling of 'ouroboros' (which is likely to appear on more pages misspelled than it is correctly...) But when you are in a hurry and filled with that nagging doubt that you have made a writing mistake this offers a quick and simple fix without even taking your hands from the keyboard.

My other helpful hint has been met with surprise by all I have told of it, which I take as anecdotal evidence suggesting it is not a well known tool for writing.

You can type the following in your search window 'define:{word or term}', replacing '{word or term}' with the word or term of your choice. The results will show you a list of web entries defining same (unless you misspelled it!). Most times the list is topped by an entry from Princeton University and can be counted upon as accurate. I use this quite often when I want to check if a word is really the one I want for the work in question.

Long, long ago it was said that it is better to keep one's mouth shut and appear a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. I feel the same applies doubly to the written word, if for no more reason than that we writers have the opportunity to give a great deal more thought to what we are typing than when speaking. While it is challenging, if not impossible to 'cut & paste' in conversation I doubt any of us would trade in our backspace key or the c&p functions in our editors. These are the tools we use.

The above 'tricks' are for use in your continuing quest to improve the craftsmanship of your writing trade. Neither of them are a replacement for actual dictionaries but they can help get you by in a pinch where your mind goes blank.

A tool is as good as it is put to use. Use them well!