The 3 Tools I Use for Every Writing Project

There are so, so many tools out there that are specifically for helping writers write books. It can be confusing to try to decide which tools to use for your project. 

There are websites that tell you how easy your writing is to read, and check your grammar and spelling. There are books on writing craft, books on how to write more words faster, and books on spelling and grammar. There are sites like Pinterest that make it easy to visualize your characters and settings.  

So many options, but it would be impossible and confusing to try to use all of the tools on one project. 

Today I’m going to talk about the three tools that I use on every novel I have ever written. 

Tool #1

Baby Naming Websites and Books

I know, I know. 

But character names! It’s so hard for me to come up with names for my characters (example: across three novels I have two Wills, two Laura’s, and two Grace’s). I like the same sort of names, and there are endless websites out there on the internet to help you chose a name (baby or character, same thing), but I prefer using an actual book. 

You can find a baby name book at any bookstore, but it’s cheaper to find one at a second-hand bookstore, or Goodwill. I found mine at Goodwill for about three dollars. 

If I'm stumped on a character name, I just flip through the book until one jumps out at me. There are also popular name lists by year that go back all the way into the 1900s, and names that are popular in different countries, if your character isn't from the U.S. 

Tool #2

Grammar Books

I do not typically use Google when I have a question about grammar. 

Here's why. 

Google gives about five different answers per site, and none of them are usually decisive. This does not help me at all, it only makes me more confused. Confused Olivia is not a good Olivia. 

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite grammar books to use for writing: 

The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White This book is great for any kind of writer, but was written specifically for novel-writing grammar rules. It's almost 100 years old, but is still a must have for any writer. 

Go Teen Writers: How to Turn Your First Draft into a Published Book I love the blog Go Teen Writers, and this book is a must-have extension from that blog. There are some really great tips here on how dialogue should be correctly punctuated, and how to correctly format your novel to send it to agents.


Any other grammar rules book I use my textbooks to check more specific grammar rules, like sit or set and other confusing things like that.

Tool #3

Writing Notebook

I am going to do a post that goes into more depth about my writing notebooks, but for now I will just say that there are two different kinds of notebooks that I use when writing. 

Idea Notebook

This is a very small notebook that I carry in my purse or backpack wherever I go. If I have an idea for a character, or hear a snippet of someone's conversation that inspires me, or even if I think of a whole plot for a novel, I write it down in here. 

Book Idea Notebook

This is a larger notebook (usually a one-subject composition notebook or a 3-ring binder) that I use when I am plotting and planning a new novel. I do character worksheets, plot beat sheets, and research here. I do not usually do any of this kind of planning for a novel on a computer, just because I feel like I am more creative and more connected to the ideas when I am writing them out with a pencil, and looking at them on paper. 



I hope you enjoyed this post and the little peek it gave you into my writing process. Are there any books that you use for writing every project? Would you be interested in reading a post about my writing notebooks?

Thanks for reading and see you in the comments!