Writers’ toolkit

Writing is a critical part of creating a magazine and great writing leads to great magazines. In this section, we'll provide links, ideas, and resources that'll help to make you a better writer. We'll also provide you with some general guidelines that'll help you meet our specific needs and with some ideas that should inspire you to greatness.

• AuthorLink appears to be a general resource site for writing. This is definitely more "great American novel" style resources than technical writing, but if you're going to hone your craft, you might want to check this out.

• Bartleby Online has a variety of very interesting resources for writers and fans of the English language.

• Grammar and Style Guide is a guide to grammar and style, prepared by Jack Lynch of the University of Pennsylvania.

• Common Errors in English simply and entertainingly explains a number of common spelling and usage errors in English.

• World Wide Words, Michael Quinion's language pages investigate international English from a British perspective, and include articles, the word hoard, newsworthy words, and usage notes.

• Acronym Finder is a great tool for helping you figure out what those confusing acronyms really mean. Just ignore the nasty Double Click ads that the service pops up.

• Ever wonder what the buzzwords mean? One way to find out is to visit the Major Geeks Geektionary, a nice glossary of some common technical terms.

• Great read on writing for the Web.

• A pile of cool writing tools and goodies.

• ZDNet has 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid.

• The Web site Authors & Experts has some very interesting resources both for improving your writing and for promoting yourself as an expert in your field. Once you write some articles for us, hop on over there and see how you can become even more famous.

• Some of you have asked us if we'd be interested in publishing your non-technical books. Our focus is tech, so no matter how great your novel, poetry, or analysis of the Austrian fashion industry is, we can't publish it. However, we've found an interesting company you might want to check out: Five Star Publications. These folks seem to have an interesting take on the publishing process and are certainly worth a look.

• Finally, just so you know you're not alone.