Tools YOU use for writing content

What tools do YOU use for writing content for jobs, including plugins or anything else?

I am a little old-fashioned, since I use OpenOffice (OO). However, I depend heavily on spellcheck. I prefer OO because I can export as PDF as easily as I save to file. MS Word has become far too cryptic and unreliable, so I stick with tried and true OO, both in Windows and Linux.

Sometimes I use WordPress with the SEO Yast plugin for the initial, superficial SEO check. This at least gets me started with a base level of SEO. Then I apply my additional SEO skills to the writing.

Any other ideas?

 

the free wordpress plugins from http://www.bloggerhigh.com are pretty good.

 

Not really into using plug ins to make content. I use a dictionary and a thesaurus . I am a fan of searching keywords before writing anything to make sure that I'm using the right keywords and using them the right number of times.

Thanks for that link Content Boss.. very cool!

 

The best tool for writing content is a headphone set with a mic, and copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking program. You can find the program in the torrents online, or if you buy it from a store, it comes with a cheap headset.

You use this combo to speak your articles. By speaking naturally, you're able to get LOTS MORE CONTENT out in a very very short amount of time. You'd be surprised. Later, you can go back and edit mistakes, keywords, and everything else.

This one tool alone is a secret content writing weapon.

 

I dont use any tool for writing content except Microsoft Word 2007 for determining correct grammar and sentences fragments

 

Great idea. I haven't seen anyone talk about this here. I tried setting up Dragon Speak, but I am just far too busy to get started with it. It sounds comfortable though.

 

I use it for novel writing not really copywriting. I love it but it took some time to learn plus my son makes a ton of noise so I can't use it as often as I'd prefer.

 

If you want to turn out work with less distractions you can use a program called Q10. The download is free and here is the link. What this does is pull up a totally black screen and types in orange type. (this can be changed), but the premise behind this is that you can't see if you are getting emails, or getting skype messages, or any other distractions. The part I love the best is that when you are typing the computer makes the sound of a typewriter. The constant clicking sound of the keys really helps keep you focused on what you are doing. Just write and keep writing, without making any corrections at the time. Once you are done, then go back and make your corrections. When I use Q10, after I'm done, I then copy and paste to open office to finish the grammar and spelling check.

 

Dragon 10 preferred is available for just $25 for DP members. Here's the thread

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2298678&highlight=dragon+naturally+speaking

 

I can use Microsoft Wood or Open Office. Whatever I feel to use at the moment.

 

skyscarpper is good

 

Sorry, this doesn't help us at all. Did you misspell the word? Is it a software program? What does it do exactly? Where can we find it? Is it free, shareware, pay only? Windows only or for Linux also? Come on! Give us more than just a generic and misspelled name.

 

Q10 looks interesting. I tried it out and was quite surprised. I thought it would be nothing more than a terminal window. I ran it under Wine on OpenSuSE 11.4 and it works great. I might try it on a dry run.

 

I have a question, how many mistakes this program makes while recording what you said?

 

If you are old-fashioned, then I am ancient! I do not use really any tools. I only use Word and my imagination. Of course, I do online searches and I do like to check on the hot searches. I even still use the old brick and mortar library!

 

Most of my writing has to do with answering clients concerns and is generic and boring. But occassionaly I am involved with the creative end of things and then I have to write with a certain "flair". I use soft,low decibal background music. I find without it I can't produce anything worthwhile.
Not really a "tool" as such but a means to an end I guess.

 

For those of you using Dragon, how well does it do with background noise? I work from home and I have 2 young kids. I always wondered about the program but thought it would be useless if it picks up all the noise around me


for writing fast, Write or Die is a fun program. Just write like heck or it either starts erasing your words or plays the most annoying noises ever.

 

dragons only take clear sounds.. and if it's not clear, sometimes it will not typed or mistype.

recomended this for fast content writing

 

MS word 2003 Portable & Brain v3.01

 

I was introduced to a pretty interesting tool the other day that I'm actually going to start using for all of my clients. It's very important that you make sure there are no spelling mistakes in your work before you submit the final copy to your client. This is pretty well known and fortunately spelling errors are easy to spot. However, where it gets more complicated is checking your grammar. Most word processors can spot basic grammar mistakes in your writing. However, there are lots of instances where you might use the wrong type of word (their, there, they're) and the word processor will not pick this up as a grammar mistake. If you didn't manually read through your article before sending it out (which you should do, but those of you writing for cheaper rates just may not have time) you can submit your article through the grammar checker called Grammarly. This bad boy will instantly check your grammar and present the mistakes to you in an easy to read and easy to fix format. I find it incredibly helpful and it's actually fairly cheap so it is easy enough for me to run all of my content through it. I even started doing this for my clients that are on the lower end budget wise. They still deserve good content just like your higher paying clients do.