Here's a fantastic selection of tools for writers of any style. This is a list of tips aimed at improving your writing skills that I cribbed from another site here. Before you start firing off submissions to publishers or you embark on that eBook writing project, do yourself a favor and review.

• Writing Tool #1: Branch to the Right
  
• Writing Tool #2: Use Strong Verbs
  
• Writing Tool #3: Beware of Adverbs
  
• Writing Tool #4: Period As a Stop Sign
  
• Writing Tool #5: Observe Word Territory
  
• Writing Tool #6: Play with Words
  
• Writing Tool #7: Dig for the Concrete and Specific
  
• Writing Tool #8: Seek Original Images
  
• Writing Tool #9: Prefer Simple to Technical
  
• Writing Tool #10: Recognize Your Story's Roots
  
• Writing Tool #11 Back Off or Show Off
  
• Writing Tool #12: Control the Pace
  
• Writing Tool #13: Show and Tell
  
• Writing Tool #14: Interesting Names
  
• Writing Tool #15: Reveal Character Traits
  
• Writing Tool #16: Odd and Interesting Things
  
• Writing Tool #17: The Number of Elements
  
• Writing Tool #18: Internal Cliffhangers
  
• Writing Tool #19: Tune Your Voice
  
• Writing Tool #20: Narrative Opportunities
  
• Writing Tool #21: Quotes and Dialogue
  
• Writing Tool #22: Get Ready
  
• Writing Tool #23: Place Gold Coins Along the Path
  
• Writing Tool #24: Name the Big Parts
  
• Writing Tool #25: Repeat
  
• Writing Tool #26: Fear Not the Long Sentence
  
• Writing Tool #27: Riffing for Originality
  
• Writing Tool #28: Writing Cinematically
  
• Writing Tool #29: Report for Scenes
  
• Writing Tool #30: Write Endings to Lock the Box
  
• Writing Tool #31: Parallel Lines
  
• Writing Tool #32: Let It Flow
  
• Writing Tool #33: Rehearsal
  
• Writing Tool #34: Cut Big, Then Small
  
• Writing Tool #35: Use Punctuation
  
• Writing Tool #36: Write A Mission Statement for Your Story
  
• Writing Tool #37: Long Projects
  
• Writing Tool #38: Polish Your Jewels
  
• Writing Tool #39: The Voice of Verbs
  
• Writing Tool #40: The Broken Line
  
• Writing Tool #41: X-Ray Reading
  
• Writing Tool #42: Paragraphs
  
• Writing Tool #43: Self-criticism
  
• Writing Tool #44: Save String
  
• Writing Tool #45: Foreshadow
  
• Writing Tool #46: Storytellers, Start Your Engines
  
• Writing Tool #47: Collaboration
  
• Writing Tool #48: Create An Editing Support Group
  
• Writing Tool #49: Learn from Criticism
  
• Writing Tool #50: The Writing Process

All of these tools come various sections of Poynter Online which is a rich resource for journalists. If for some reason you want to see last year's post (for the comments perhaps), you can do so here.

You can also visit our previous post on Grammar and Punctuation Rules if you really want to sharpen your skills.

  Thirthy-three Names of Things You Never Knew had Names:

1. AGLET-The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
2. ARMSAYE-The armhole in clothing.
3. CHANKING-Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
4. COLUMELLA NASI-The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
5. DRAGÉES-Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
6. FEAT-A dangling curl of hair.
7. FERRULE-The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
8. HARP-The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
9. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER-A 64th note. (A nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 6th note is a semiquaver.)
10. JARNS,
11. NITTLES,
12. GRAWLIX,
13. and QUIMP-Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
14. KEEPER-The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.
15. KICK or PUNT-The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.
16. LIRIPIPE-The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.
17. MINIMUS-The little finger or toe.
18. NEF-An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.
19. OBDORMITION-The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is 'asleep'.
20. OCTOTHORPE-The symbol '#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs' engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes, 9 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.
21. OPHRYON-The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.
22. PEEN-The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.
23. PHOSPHENES-The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.
24. PURLICUE-The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.
25. RASCETA-Creases on the inside of the wrist.
26. ROWEL-The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.
27. SADDLE-The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.
28. SCROOP-The rustle of silk.
29. SNORKEL BOX-A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.
30. SPRAINTS-Otter dung.
31. TANG-The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.
32. WAMBLE-Stomach rumbling.
33. ZARF-A holder for a handleless coffee cup.

Now write a story using all of these terms :)