bigbraingene:

60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers

Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore. Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Both writers still in college and those on their way to professional success will appreciate this list of useful search applications that are great from making writing a little easier and more efficient.

Professional

Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines.

1. Litscene: Use this search engine to search through thousands of writers and literary projects, and add your own as well.
2. Thinkers.net: Get a boost in your creativity with some assistance from this site.
3. PoeWar: Whether you need help with your career or your writing, this site is full of great searchable articles.
4. Publisher’s Catalogues: Try out this site to search through the catalogs and names of thousands of publishers.
5. Edit Red: Through this site you can showcase your own work and search through work by others, as well as find helpful FAQ’s on writing.
6. Writersdock: Search through this site for help with your writing, find jobs and join other writers in discussions.
7. PoetrySoup: If you want to find some inspirational poetry, this site is a great resource.
8. Booksie.com: Here, you can search through a wide range of self-published books.
9. One Stop Write Shop: Use this tool to search through the writings of hundreds of other amateur writers.
10. Writer’s Cafe: Check out this online writer’s forum to find and share creative works.
11. Literary Marketplace: Need to know something about the publishing industry? Use this search tool to find the information you need now.

Writing

These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process.

12. WriteSearch: This search engine focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing to deliver its results.
13. The Burry Man Writers Center: Find a wealth of writing resources on this searchable site.
14. Writing.com: This fully-featured site makes it possible to find information both fun and serious about the craft of writing.
15. Purdue OWL: Need a little instruction on your writing? This tool from Purdue University in Lafayette, IN can help.
16. Writing Forums: Search through these writing forums to find answers to your writing issues.

Research

Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap.

17. Google Scholar: With this specialized search engine from Google, you’ll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.
18. WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool. It’ll search and find the closest location.
19. Scirus: Find great scientific articles and publications through this search engine.
20. OpenLibrary: If you don’t have time to run to a brick-and-mortar library, this online tool can still help you find books you can use.
21. Online Journals Search Engine: Try out this search engine to find free online journal articles.
22. All Academic: This search engine focuses on returning highly academic, reliable resources.
23. LOC Ask a Librarian: Search through the questions on this site to find helpful answers about the holdings at the Library of Congress.
24. Encylcopedia.com: This search engine can help you find basic encyclopedia articles.
25. Clusty: If you’re searching for a topic to write on, this search engine with clustered results can help get your creative juices flowing.
26. Intute: Here you’ll find a British search engine that delivers carefully chosen results from academia.
27. AllExperts: Have a question? Ask the experts on this site or search through the existing answers.

Reference

Need to look up a quote or a fact? These search tools make it simple.

28. Writer’s Web Search Engine: This search engine is a great place to find reference information on how to write well.
29. Bloomsbury Magazine Research Centre: You’ll find numerous resources on publications, authors and more through this search engine.
30. Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus: Make sure you’re using words correctly and can come up with alternatives with the help of this tool.
31. References.net: Find all the reference material you could ever need through this search engine.
32. Quotes.net: If you need a quote, try searching for one by topic or by author on this site.
33. Literary Encyclopedia: Look up any famous book or author in this search tool.
34. Acronym Finder: Not sure what a particular acronym means? Look it up here.
35. Bartleby: Through Bartleby, you can find a wide range of quotes from famous thinkers, writers and celebrities.
36. Wikipedia.com: Just about anything and everything you could want to look up is found on this site.
37. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Find all the great philosophers you could want to reference in this online tool.

Niche Writers

If you’re focusing on writing in a particular niche, these tools can be a big help.

38. PubGene: Those working in sci-fi or medical writing will appreciate this database of genes, biological terms and organisms.
39. GoPubMd: You’ll find all kinds of science and medical search results here.
40. Jayde: Looking for a business? Try out this search tool.
41. Zibb: No matter what kind of business you need to find out more about, this tool will find the information.
42. TechWeb: Do a little tech research using this news site and search engine.
43. Google Trends: Try out this tool to find out what people are talking about.
44. Godchecker: Doing a little work on ancient gods and goddesses? This tool can help you make sure you have your information straight.
45. Healia: Find a wide range of health topics and information by using this site.
46. Sci-Fi Search: Those working on sci-fi can search through relevant sites to make sure their ideas are original.

Books

Find your own work and inspirational tomes from others by using these search engines.

47. Literature Classics: This search tool makes it easy to find the free and famous books you want to look through.
48. InLibris: This search engine provides one of the largest directories of literary resources on the web.
49. SHARP Web: Using this tool, you can search through the information on the history of reading and publishing.
50. AllReaders: See what kind of reviews books you admire got with this search engine.
51. BookFinder: No matter what book you’re looking for you’re bound to find it here.
52. ReadPrint: Search through this site for access to thousands of free books.
53. Google Book Search: Search through the content of thousands upon thousands of books here, some of which is free to use.
54. Indie Store Finder: If you want to support the little guy, this tool makes it simple to find an independent bookseller in your neck of the woods.

Blogging

For web writing, these tools can be a big help.

55. Technorati: This site makes it possible to search through millions of blogs for both larger topics and individual posts.
56. Google Blog Search: Using this specialized Google search engine, you can search through the content of blogs all over the web.
57. Domain Search: Looking for a place to start your own blog? This search tool will let you know what’s out there.
58. OpinMind: Try out this blog search tool to find opinion focused blogs.
59. IceRocket: Here you’ll find a real-time blog search engine so you’ll get the latest news and posts out there.
60. PubSub: This search tool scours sites like Twitter and Friendfeed to find the topics people are talking about most every day.

deejayshorty:

thewritingcafe:

BASICS:

Genres:

• Alternate World: A setting that is not our world, but may be similar. This includes “portal fantasies” in which characters find an alternative world through their own. An example would be The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Arabian: Fantasy that is based on the Middle East and North Africa.
• Arthurian: Set in Camelot and deals with Arthurian mythology and legends.
• Bangsian: Set in the afterlife or deals heavily with the afterlife. It most often deals with famous and historical people as characters. An example could be The Lovely Bones.
• Celtic: Fantasy that is based on the Celtic people, most often the Irish.
• Christian: This genre has Christian themes and elements.
• Classical: Based on Roman and Greek myths.
• Contemporary: This genre takes place in modern society in which paranormal and magical creatures live among us. An example would be the Harry Potter series.
• Dark: This genre combines fantasy and horror elements. The tone or feel of dark fantasy is often gloomy, bleak, and gothic.
• Epic: This genre is long and, as the name says, epic. Epic is similar to high fantasy, but has more importance, meaning, or depth. Epic fantasy is most often in a medieval setting.
• Gaslamp: Also known as gaslight, this genre has a Victorian or Edwardian setting.
• Gunpowder: Gunpowder crosses epic or high fantasy with “rifles and railroads”, but the technology remains realistic unlike the similar genre of steampunk.
• Heroic: Centers on one or more heroes who start out as humble, unlikely heroes thrown into a plot that challenges them.
• High: This is considered the “classic” fantasy genre. High fantasy contains the general fantasy elements and is set in a fictional world.
• Historical: The setting in this genre is any time period within our world that has fantasy elements added.
• Medieval: Set between ancient times and the industrial era. Often set in Europe and involves knights. (medieval references)
• Mythic: Fantasy involving or based on myths, folklore, and fairy tales.
• Portal: Involves a portal, doorway, or other entryway that leads the protagonist from the “normal world” to the “magical world”.
• Quest: As the name suggests, the protagonist in this genre sets out on a quest. The protagonist most frequently searches for an object of importance and returns home with it.
• Sword and Sorcery: Pseudomedieval settings in which the characters use swords and engage in action-packed plots. Magic is also an element, as is romance.
• Urban: Has a modern or urban setting in which magic and paranormal creatures exist, often in secret.
• Wuxia: A genre in which the protagonist learns a martial art and follows a code. This genre is popular in Chinese speaking areas.

Word Counts:

Word counts for fantasy are longer than other genres because of the need for world building. Even in fantasy that takes place in our world, there is a need for the introduction of the fantasy aspect.

Word counts for established authors with a fan base can run higher because publishers are willing to take a higher chance on those authors. First-time authors (who have little to no fan base) will most likely not publish a longer book through traditional publishing. Established authors may also have better luck with publishing a novel far shorter than that genre’s expected or desired word count, though first-time authors may achieve this as well.

A general rule of thumb for first-time authors is to stay under 100k and probably under 110k for fantasy.

Other exceptions to word count guidelines would be for short fiction (novellas, novelettes, short stories, etc.) and that one great author who shows up every few years with a perfect 200k manuscript.

But why are there word count guidelines? For young readers, it’s pretty obvious why books should be shorter. For other age groups, it comes down to the editor’s preference, shelf space in book stores, and the cost of publishing a book. The bigger the book, the more expensive it is to publish.

• General Fantasy: 75k – 110k
• Epic Fantasy: 90k – 120k
• Contemporary Fantasy: 90k – 120k
• Urban Fantasy: 80k – 100k
• Middle Grade: 45k – 70k
• YA: 75k – 120k (depending on sub-genre)
• Adult: 80k – 120k (depending on sub-genre)

WORLD BUILDING:

A pseudo-European medieval setting is fine, but it’s overdone. And it’s always full of white men and white women in disguise as white men because around 85% (ignore my guess/exaggeration, I only put it there for emphasis) of fantasy writers seem to have trouble letting go of patriarchal societies. 

Guys. It’s fantasy. You can do whatever you want. You can write a fantasy that takes place in a jungle. Or in a desert. Or in a prairie. The people can be extremely diverse in one region and less diverse in another. The cultures should differ. Different voices should be heard. Queer people exist. People of color exist. Not everyone has two arms or two legs or the ability to hear.

As for the fantasy elements, you also make up the rules. Don’t go searching around about how a certain magic spell is done, just make it up. Magic can be whatever color you want. It can be no color at all. You can use as much or as little magic as you want.

Keep track of what you put into your world and stick to the rules. There should be limits, laws, cultures, climates, disputes, and everything else that exists in our world. However, you don’t have to go over every subject when writing your story.

World Building:

• Fantasy World Building Questionnaire
• Magical World Builder’s Guide
• Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
• Creating Religions
• Quick and Dirty World Building
• World Building Links
• Fantasy World Building Questions
• The Seed of Government (2)
• Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Fantasy Worlds and Race
• Water Geography
• Alternate Medieval Fantasy Story
• Writing Magic
• Types of Magic
• When Magic Goes Wrong
• Magic-Like Psychic Abilities
• Science and Magic
• Creative Uses of Magic
• Thoughts on Creating Magic Systems
• Defining the Sources, Effects, and Costs of Magic
• World Building Basics
• Mythology Master Post
• Fantasy Religions
• Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World
• Making Histories
• Matching Your Money to Your World
• Building a Better Beast
• A Man in Beast’s Clothing
• Creating and Using Fictional Languages
• Creating a Language
• Creating Fictional Holidays
• Creating Holidays
• Weather and World Building 101
• Describing Fantastic Creatures
• Medieval Technology
• Music For Your Fantasy World
• A heterogeneous World
• Articles on World Building

Cliches:

• Grand List of Fantasy Cliches (most of this can be debated)
• Fantasy Cliches Discussion
• Ten Fantasy Cliches That Should Be Put to Rest
• Seven Fantasy Cliches That Need to Disappear
• Avoiding Fantasy Cliches 101
• Avoiding Fantasy Cliches
• Fantasy Cliches
• Fantasy Cliche Meter: The Bad Guys
• Fantasy Novelist’s Exam
• Mary Sue Race Test

Note: Species (like elves and dwarves) are not cliches. The way they are executed are cliches.

CHARACTERS

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