Become a Writer Today
Writing tools

Every writing tool, A to Z

The complete index of every free tool and word bank on Become a Writer Today. If you know what you want, it is below. If you want the ones for the job you are doing, start with your kind of writer.

Start with what you are working on

The same tools, assembled by who is using them. Faster than scrolling an A-Z when you know the job.

For self-publishing authors

Finish the book, then price it and publish it. Draft, revise, royalties, costs, copyright.

Start here

For freelance writers

Price the work, ship it clean, get paid. Rates, quotes, invoices, scope, fast edits.

Start here

For content marketers

The checks that run before you publish. Headlines, subject lines, meta, readability.

Start here

For poets

Write the line, hear it, submit it. Scansion, rhyme, anthology, contests and magazines.

Start here

Writing software & reviews

The tools above are free. When it is time to pay for software, these reviews and comparisons help you pick. The full set lives on the writing software hub.

Writing Software Hub

Every review, comparison and finder for paid writing software, in one place.

Open the hub

Best AI Writing Software

ChatGPT, Jasper, Copy.ai and the niche tools for authors, ecommerce and SEO, tested and compared.

Read the guide

Best Grammar Checkers

Grammarly, ProWritingAid, QuillBot, LanguageTool and more, matched to a kind of writer.

Compare checkers

Grammarly Review

An honest, hands-on verdict on what Grammarly does today and who it is for.

Read the review

Grammarly Alternatives

Twelve tools that each beat Grammarly at one job, from paraphrasing to manuscript depth.

See the alternatives

Grammarly Free vs Pro

Exactly what the paid step buys over the free plan, so you can judge the upgrade.

See the difference

Word & language

Themed Word Generator

Type any theme and get evocative related words grouped by part of speech, live. Copy or star each one.

Open tool

Rhyme Finder

Type any word, get perfect rhymes grouped by syllable count.

Open tool

List of Rhyming Words

Browse common rhyming families, then find rhymes for any word live.

Open tool

Emotion Wheel

Start with a core emotion and drill down to the precise word you need.

Open tool

Root Word Explorer

Search a root, its meaning, or a word built from it, Latin and Greek.

Open tool

Palindrome Checker

Type any word or phrase to check if it reads the same backwards.

Open tool

Precise Verb Finder

Type a flat word like walk or said and get stronger alternatives, each with a real example sentence.

Open tool

Poetry

Poem Generator

Pick a form and the tool builds its real scaffold: line count, syllable targets, rhyme letters and refrain rails, with live syllable feedback as you write.

Open tool

Syllable Counter

Per-word syllable counts and line totals, with a built-in 5-7-5 haiku checker.

Open tool

Meter Checker

Paste a line or stanza to see its stress pattern, meter verdict and rhyme scheme.

Open tool

Poetry Anthology

A searchable anthology of public-domain poems, filterable by theme, form and poet.

Open tool

Poems Like Invictus

Read Invictus in full, then discover 10 defiant poems in the same spirit.

Open tool

Poetic Devices Hub

Every literary device explained with worked examples.

Open tool

Literary Devices Glossary

71 literary terms defined, each with sourced examples from real works and a spot-the-device quiz.

Open tool

Types of Poems

20 poetic forms explained, from blank verse and haiku to the villanelle and sestina.

Open tool

Concrete Poem Maker

Type your words, pick a shape, and watch them arrange into a picture. Copy it or download a PNG.

Open tool

Rhyme Scheme Analyzer

Paste a poem to get its rhyme scheme letter by letter, with every perfect, slant and eye-rhyme match explained.

Open tool

Poem Form Identifier

Paste a poem and test it against the sourced rules of the sonnet, villanelle, sestina, pantoum, limerick, haiku, ballad and blank verse.

Open tool

Blackout Poetry Maker

Click the words to keep, black out the rest, and download your redacted poem as a PNG.

Open tool

The Poems, Era by Era

All 201 public-domain anthology poems on their own pages, grouped by era, each with similar poems and one-click scansion.

Open tool

Craft

Character Name Generator

Era-accurate character names from real birth records, 1880s to 2020s.

Open tool

Character Name Era Checker

Was that name really used in that decade? Check any first name's real rank across fifteen decades of birth records.

Open tool

Pen Name Generator

Real-record author bylines by era, presentation and byline style, each with its actual historical rank.

Open tool

Fantasy Name Generator

Instant names for elves, dwarves, orcs, dragons, towns, kingdoms and more, across 15 genres.

Open tool

Book Title Generator

Instant book titles across 8 genres, built from this site's own word banks and genre title grammars.

Open tool

Character Adjective Canvas

Click traits to build a character profile, then email it to yourself.

Open tool

Plot Generator

Build a re-rollable story skeleton: protagonist, complication, stakes, a genre trope and a twist.

Open tool

Writing Challenge Generator

Pull a writing challenge to try today.

Open tool

Column Idea Generator

Generate a newspaper or blog column idea on demand.

Open tool

Topic Generator

Generate an editorial or report writing topic with argue-for/against angles.

Open tool

Writing Prompt Generator

Draw a genre or format writing prompt (fantasy, romance, horror, sci-fi, journal, first-line, story starter) and save it to your toolkit.

Open tool

Hero's Journey Explorer

Click through the stages of the hero's journey with real examples.

Open tool

Show, Don't Tell Quiz

See a telling line, then reveal how to show it instead.

Open tool

Novella or Novel?

Enter a word count to see if your manuscript is a short story, novella or novel.

Open tool

Word Count Planner

Set a target and deadline, get your daily quota, finish date and streak tracker.

Open tool

Beat Sheet Calculator

Save the Cat story beats mapped to your manuscript's word count.

Open tool

Average Length of a Book

Industry-standard word counts by genre, format and reader age group.

Open tool

Words to Pages Converter

How many pages is your word count? Computes it from your font, size, spacing and margins.

Open tool

Editing & style

Manuscript Workbench

One paste runs every analyzer at once: style, readability, dialogue and dangling openers, with a visual pacing report and draft-over-draft deltas.

Open tool

Dead Word Sandbox

Paste your draft to highlight filler words, weak adverbs and vague nouns in real time.

Open tool

Grammar & Style Checker

Paste a draft to flag stiff words, filler, passive voice, quotation slips and dangling modifiers.

Open tool

Manuscript Style Analyzer

Paste a chapter, get a full style report: cliches, echoes, passive voice and rhythm.

Open tool

Readability Checker

Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid grade, reading and speaking time for any text.

Open tool

Dangling Modifier Spotter

Spot what dangles in each sentence, then see the fix.

Open tool

Common Grammar Terms

A 42-term grammar glossary with definitions and examples, plus a quick self-test.

Open tool

Common Grammar Mistakes

Confused word pairs and punctuation rules, each with a worked example.

Open tool

Biased Language Examples

Loaded words and phrases with inclusive alternatives and the history behind each.

Open tool

Inclusive Language Checker

Paste a draft to flag phrases from the biased-language list, each with an alternative and the history behind it.

Open tool

Dialogue Punctuation Checker

Paste dialogue to fix comma-vs-period before tags, capitalisation and quote marks, US or UK.

Open tool

Manuscript Format Checker

Paste a manuscript for a pass/fail against standard (Shunn) format: indents, word count, scene breaks.

Open tool

Content & copywriting

Deterministic checks for the lines that do the selling. Every rule is shown, so you can disagree with the score.

Headline Analyzer

Score a headline on length, structure and clarity, with every rule shown.

Open tool

Email Subject Line Checker

Check length, spam-trigger terms and mechanics before you hit send.

Open tool

Meta Description Checker

Estimated pixel width and a live search-result preview for your description.

Open tool

Career paths

Not sure which kind of writer to be, or how to become one? Start here.

What Kind of Writer Should I Be?

A two-minute quiz that walks you to the writing career that fits, from 19 real paths.

Take the quiz

Writing Careers Hub

All 19 writing careers, grouped by type, each with a roadmap and real salary or rate data.

Open tool

Money & career

Writer Salary Explorer

What writers, authors and editors earn by US state and percentile, from BLS data.

Open tool

How Much Do Writers Make?

The state of writing income: BLS and EFA data on what authors, copywriters and freelancers earn.

Open tool

Writing Jobs Directory

Verified job boards, pitch markets and marketplaces for writers, filterable by niche and pay.

Open tool

Freelance Writing Rates Calculator

Convert per-word, per-hour and per-project rates against EFA benchmarks.

Open tool

Self-Publishing Royalty Calculator

Royalty per sale and breakeven for KDP, ACX and IngramSpark.

Open tool

Freelance Quote Builder

Build an itemised client quote priced against EFA rate benchmarks.

Open tool

Freelance Invoice Generator

Make a clean, numbered client invoice privately in your browser.

Open tool

Scope Creep Calculator

Price the extra revision round, and get the wording to ask for it politely.

Open tool

Publishing Cost Benchmarks

What editing, formatting and a cover really cost, from sourced ranges.

Open tool

Publish Path Decider

Answer a few questions to compare KDP, KDP Select, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital.

Open tool

Copyright Page Generator

A ready-to-paste copyright page for your book, plus a US public domain checker.

Open tool

KDP AI Disclosure Wizard

Do you have to tell Amazon you used AI? Walk your workflow through KDP's actual policy, per content type.

Open tool

AI Writing Cost Calculator

Words to tokens to money: raw Claude and GPT API pricing versus Sudowrite and Novelcrafter, verified with dates.

Open tool

Writing Software Finder

Filter free writing software by what you write, your platform and price.

Open tool

Letter Writing App Finder

Filter letter-writing apps by platform and price.

Open tool

Rights & permissions

What you can quote, what has fallen into the public domain, and what the contract clause actually means. Deterministic rules with the sources shown.

US Public Domain Checker

Enter a publication year, answer the notice and renewal questions, get a verdict with the reason. Cornell chart rules.

Open tool

Can I Quote This?

Song lyrics, poetry, prose, epigraphs and brand names in your book: a decision tree with the source quote under every verdict.

Open tool

Contract Terms Glossary

The clauses that decide what a writing deal is worth, each with a watch-for note from Authors Guild, NWU and SFWA guidance.

Open tool

Opportunities & deadlines

Living databases, checked and refreshed on a schedule, not scraped once and left to rot.

Contests Open Now

Every open contest and grant in one list, soonest deadline first.

Open tool

Poetry Contests

Current poetry contest deadlines, fees and prizes, searchable.

Open tool

Writing Contests

Fiction, essay and nonfiction contest deadlines, searchable.

Open tool

Writing Grants

Current grants, fellowships and residencies with deadlines.

Open tool

Literary Magazines

Which magazines are open for submissions, what they pay and how long they take.

Open tool

Paying Markets

Publications and blogs that pay writers, each with a pay rate quoted from its own page and an AI submission policy where stated.

Open tool

AI Submission Policies

Which magazines and contests ban AI-written work, in their own words, with source links and check dates.

Open tool

Writing Residencies

Residencies and fellowships with deadlines, stipends and costs, searchable.

Open tool

Writing Conferences

Conference dates, costs, scholarships and agent pitch sessions for the next 12 months.

Open tool

Deadline Calendar

Subscribe to writing deadlines in your own calendar app, free ICS feeds by genre.

Open tool

Deadline Alerts by Genre

Pick one genre and get its contests, magazine windows and residencies by email, once a week. Free.

Pick your genre

State of Writing Contests 2026

What contests actually charge and pay: fee quartiles by currency, free-entry share and the full prize-to-fee ratio distribution, computed from the database.

Read the report

Magazine Types Explorer

Browse and filter magazine types by category.

Open tool

Trope Database

Filter fiction tropes by genre and romance heat, each defined with named example works.

Open tool

AI Detector Accuracy

What detectors claim vs what independent tests find, every false-positive figure linked to its source.

See the evidence

Mystery Writers Dataset

50 mystery, crime and thriller authors, filterable by era and subgenre, with sourced life dates and key works.

Open tool

Your workspace

Where the tools remember what you did. The first two are free and run in your browser. The third is the paid subscription that carries them between your devices.

Query Letter Builder

Fill in the parts and assemble a correctly ordered query letter to an agent, live in your browser.

Open tool

Submission Tracker

Track what you submitted where, privately in your browser.

Open tool

Your Saved Items

Every word, rhyme and name you starred across the tools, in one place.

Open tool

My Desk

Your deadlines, submissions, streak, saved items and reports, assembled on one page from this browser.

Open your desk

Writer's Toolkit Pro

A paid subscription that syncs the tracker and your saved items across devices and keeps your report history. Every tool above stays free.

See what Pro adds

Digital products

The tools above are free and stay free. These are one-time paid downloads for when a web page cannot go far enough.

Products for Writers

Packs and kits you buy once and keep, delivered by email.

See the products

Spelling, blends & homophones

Hard Words to Spell

50 words that trip up writers regularly.

Open tool

Spelling Bee Words

95 words graded beginner to national level, with an audio spelling-bee quiz.

Open tool

Blended Words

Portmanteau words for writers, with meanings.

Open tool

Homophones

24 homophone sets that can sabotage your writing.

Open tool

Spelling Rules

30 English spelling rules with a worked example for each.

Open tool

US vs UK Spelling

Commonly misspelled words plus American and British spelling differences.

Open tool

Word banks & generators

Curated word lists with a live generator on every page.

Descriptive Words ListCompound WordsDead Words ListWords Of EncouragementOther Words For GoodAdjective WordsSad Words ListDeep Words For LoveOther Words For AmazingPositive WordsSynonyms For ButFamily Words ListWords For PoetsRandom WordsConnectors In EnglishWords To Describe Setting In Fiction 150 Precise Evocative ChoicesNice Words To Describe SomeoneUncommon WordsAction WordsBeautiful Words Related To LightGreek Root WordsAntonym ExamplesLegal WordsConjunction WordsLatin Root WordsMedical Words ListAdjectives For Strong MenTransition Words For Writers The Complete List With ExamplesWhat Are AdverbsSensory Words ListSpooky AdjectivesHow To Use Adjectives CorrectlyMetaphors About LifeOnomatopoeia ExamplesAdjectives For A Good FriendAdjectives For LeadershipAdjectives For NatureAdjectives For The OceanAdjectives For A HeroAdjectives For VillainsAdjectives For AutumnAdjectives For A TeacherAdjectives For SuccessAdjectives For FearPowerful Words ListBeautiful Words For Book LoversSynonyms For ImportantConnotative WordsContraction WordsVivid VerbsExamples Of Prepositional PhrasesChristmas WordsCommon Verb ListWords Invented By ShakespeareNonsense Words ListTrigger Words
Newsletter

The writer's edit

One practical writing tip, a new tool, and a fresh contest deadline, every Thursday. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.