If you are like me, you always aim to keep becoming a better writer. But how to improve? For writers, betterment lies in gaining experience and learning the best working tools. Well, today’s your lucky day! I would be sharing some of the best websites to become better writer.
Be it poetry, story writing, blogging, SEO, marketing, or freelancing – I’ve tried to curate content specific to all the needs. For the last two weeks, I have been researching the best writing websites to become a better writer. I have been writing for several years and liked many of the tools listed below.
The best websites include Writer’s Digest, Wattpad, NaNoWriMo, Medium, and Now Novel. They give you a platform to write and let you interact with other writers to learn from their experiences. Plus, their writing tools aim to provide you with writing a little push-up by helping you explore your creative side better.
Websites To Become A Better Writer
Writer’s Digest
I found Writer’s Digest to be the best writing website in terms of credibility and trust. Why do I call it credible? Well, it has been around since 1920 (more than 100 years!), with 20,000+ newsletter subscriptions, such historic publications command huge respect. Impressive!
My experience is quite great with them. For new and upcoming writers, they offer interviews with successful authors from all genres, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. It is great for learning pro tips, getting advice to tackle burn-outs, and overall audience engagement.
Some of their main features are:
- Writing tutorials: This writing website helps become a better writer through variety of writing tutorials. These tutorials help you become creative and professional, guiding you in reaching a larger audience.
- Writer’s Digest University: They offer paid courses as well. The free resources are great, but the paid courses are ideal for mastering freelancing, building a platform, publication, etc.
- 2nd draft editors: I’ve found their editorial reviews to be quite helpful. For those who are unaware, they can review your writing and provide feedback and advice to maximize reach and uplifting engagement.
- Literary Agents: It offers data about literary agents who can be contacted to seek writing gigs. They help find work with requirements that match your field of expertise.
- Competitions: Competitions are organized in various categories, including poetry, writing, self-published books, short stories, etc.
Pros | Cons |
It provides you with prompts to give you topics to write about. | Most webinars and all of the tutorials are behind a paywall. |
Script magazine has been the top screenwriting publication for 30 years. | |
It provides free articles/documentation to help in various aspects of writing. |
They offer following pricing options:
Product | Pricing |
Webinars | It depends on the webinar |
Tutorials | Subscription of $199 per year or $25 per month |
Wattpad
It’s no secret that Wattpad is best for increasing your readership. With more than 90 million users it has a huge potential. Want to hear the truth? The huge audience also results in an increased competition, which makes things difficult for inexperienced users.
Still, this website helps you become a better writer through its writing resources and tools for brushing up your skills. I loved the genuine feedback my audience gave me. Furthermore, I was able to use their analytics and statistics to improve my writing.
The writing resources and guidance is great, but what’s even better is the earning potential! If my content does well, I earn revenue, this keeps me motivated. Another thing to love about Wattpad is the possibility of collaboration with big brands, making it an ideal writing website.
Some of their main features are:
- Story School: It is a video series that teaches various topics with an average duration of 4-5 minutes per session. The short duration is ideal for quick revisions.
- Story Creation: Stories can be published entirely or in parts if you want to receive feedback after every few chapters. I love the chapter-wise publishing, as it helps me build help.
- Comments: As mentioned above, the comment section is an absolute blessing. You can interact with your audience and understand their tastes better, which will help you in your future writing.
- Creator’s blog: The section where your fellow Wattpad writers and content experts provide valuable tips and updates regarding writing on Wattpad.
- Author’s bio: Your bio will contain your previous works on this website, plus your general introduction. In addition, you can add your social media as well.
Pros | Cons |
It can be used on Android and iOS. | It is not possible to upload text files or PDFs on Wattpad. |
You add a cover or other media to your story. | |
You can add topic tags to your work to make it easier to search for the readers. |
You can choose from the following pricing options:
Plan | Payment |
Free | Lifetime free |
Premium | $4.99/month |
Premium + | $7.49/month |
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)
NaNoWriMo despite its tough to pronounce name, is not tough to use. It is best for learning as it guides you in novel/story writing. If you have to learn writing as a novice, I highly recommend it to become a better writer.
I was amazed by their offline camps, where I could challenge myself with a word limit and a deadline for a novel. You receive community support, writing motivation, and goodies for achieving your targets, that could help you become a better writer.
During my usage, I found their NaNo Prep 101 curated tutorial suitable for new and upcoming writers. It was created in a beginner friendly language, and I highly recommend this writing website to become a better writer.
Some of their main features are:
- Pep talk: In case you are low on motivation, it provides a pep talk consisting of inspirational letters written by well-known authors.
- Forum: You can connect and interact with other writers on their forums and even work with writers on your challenges.
- Competition: It organizes its annual flagship novel writing competition in November, which can be registered individually or in groups.
- Press Coverage: They are covered by well-known outlets like The New York Times and Forbes; hence, they may help you reach a larger audience.
- Young Writer’s Program: The program is part of their flagship event but is open only to under-18 writers or K-12 educators.
- Free Resources: It guides you in finishing or revising a novel, writing a memoir, etc.
Pros | Cons |
A completion certificate is awarded after the completion of Nano Prep 101. | It focuses primarily just on novel or story writing. |
You can add a cover image to your writing project. | |
Writers of all demographics are welcome. |
This service is completely free
Medium
I am sure that almost every writer would have heard the praise of Medium. If you are still living under a rack, it is one of the best for writing articles and blogs. You can write on their platform or host independently. I love it for the diverse community of fellow Creators.
One thing to note is that on signing up, it asks you about your topics of interest and provides you with those topics from other writers. Hence, it significantly increases your knowledge of what competitors are doing.
Likewise, your topic will surely reach an audience that appreciates it. You may also look into some Medium Alternatives for your needs. Overall, it is one of the best websites to become a better writer in blogging and niche article writing.
Some of the main features of Medium are:
- Staff Picks: A section of staff-picked articles is displayed on the home page. Hence, your article, if selected, would reach a larger audience.
- Earning: It is also a medium of earning as the writers can earn money through the Partner Program. The payment varies depending on the engagement and activity of the other subscribed members on your content.
- Comment Section: It allows your readers to leave appreciation or feedback. It’s a great place to interact with your audience.
- Story: You can publish stories to promote your work. Medium provides an article on ‘How to self-promote without turning people off,’ which could be referred to before posting a story.
- Topic Tags: The articles have topic tags to improve your content’s reach while simultaneously easing the search for your readers.
- Writing: While writing on Medium, you change font size style, import images, and even add links to other sites.
Pros | Cons |
You can import your story from anywhere on the internet to publish on this website. | Partner Program is unavailable in various countries, e.g., India. |
Bio can be added to let your readers know more about you. | |
Readers can follow you, providing you with a group of loyal readers. |
They have the following subscription choices:
Plan | Payment |
Free Account | Lifetime Free |
Member Account | $5 per month/$50 per year |
Friend Account | $15 per month/$150 per year |
Now Novel
Now Novel as the name suggests, focuses on Novels and #novelwriting. In my experience their laser-focused approach is suitable for people interested in fiction writing. You can get help from writing coaches, story-outlining tools, and peers.
In addition, they have a blog teaching you how to write/do various aspects of a novel, for example, characters, dialogue, editing, etc. Plus, this website even motivates you if you face writer’s block, trust me it works like magic.
Coaching plans can be selected based on the stage of your novel writing. The stages include starting, developing, and learning. If you are new to novel writing, like I am, this website provides beneficial advice and guidance with personal attention and weekly feedback.
Now Novel will provide you the following features:
- Editing: Editing may vary depending on the stage of writing you are in. This website provides you with editors per the type of editorial service you need. Examples are proofreading and copy editing.
- Central Idea Wizard: It includes this writing tool that helps you brainstorm your story’s concept.
- Courses and Guides: The website provides you with courses about kickstarting or publishing. Even guides are provided to help write the scenes or think of a plot and the characters.
- Now Novel Dashboard: It’s a story outlining tool that helps you create your novel’s outline or blueprint.
- Writing Coaches: You are provided with writing coaches that match your genre interests and preferred feedback style.
- Scribble Pad: Here, you can save extracts from your writing. They can be shared later on the Now Novel community to help you get constructive feedback and tips to improve your writing.
Pros | Cons |
The website can be used on any device. | Most of their facilities can only be used by their subscribers. |
You can also attend their writing webinars or crit groups to learn more. | |
Your dashboard provides you with an option for peer critique. |
Now Novel’s pricing options are as follows:
Plan | Pricing |
Free | Lifetime Free |
Lifetime | $49/once-off |
The Process | $15/month or $149/year |
Fiverr
Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking, but hear me out. Despite being a freelancing website, Fiverr can still be a great place to learn writing and become a better writer. In fact I consider it one of the best writing websites. Working with clients, getting real work experience, navigating through tight deadlines helps become a better writer.
This writing website allows you to earn money through your content writing. You can refer to Learn from Fiverr to help build your freelance skills and help make a career out of it. A free course is provided to learn the basics of Fiverr and give you a heads-up on your new journey.
I believe that Fiverr provides you with the potential to improve your writing. Plus, as the saying goes, ‘Practice makes a man perfect,’ you can check your skills by being a seller on this website and gaining experience. Which further increases your credibility as a content writer.
Main features of Fiverr are:
- Getting started: Fiverr provides a guide to help you build your profile and tells you how to increase your reach or earnings.
- Fiverr Affiliate Program: You can become a Fiverr affiliate, which promises you benefits like marketing tools, personal support, an intuitive dashboard, and various services and styles.
- Categories: Learn From Fiverr provides courses in various categories like marketing, web design, writing, etc.
- Recommendations: The website provides you with personalized recommendations on your home page, helping you become a better writer.
- Outsourcing: You can buy proofreading or editing services from various freelancers.
- Badges: You can be provided with ‘Pro’ or ‘Fiver’s Choice’ badges if your work is good enough, which will help you garner more buyers.
Pros | Cons |
For ‘Learn from Fiverr’, you need to buy the course, there is no need for subscriptions. | The first few sales can take quite some time. |
A badge is added to your profile upon completing a course. | |
You can earn Fiverr credits by inviting your friends. |
Their prices vary largely depending upon the course chosen.
WordPress
WordPress is by-far the best for building and growing your website. While it may sound complicated to have a website for your writing, it’s really easy. One thing you should know about me is that I love the variety of plugins WordPress offers. You name it and WordPress has it!
You can become a better writer by gaining real-world experience, learning SEO, gaining feedback from your actual audience through this writing website. Overall, I feel it can help you get paid by monetizing your newsletter or giving ad revenue by connecting your site with the biggest ad publishers.
With WordPress you get the following features:
- Themes: It has a wide variety of themes for your website. You can even design your theme using premium colors and font pairings.
- Patterns: This writing website even contains patterns/layouts for different site types, whether an about page or a blog post.
- Google tools: You may even use Google tools or services here, e.g., Google Docs, and even make your site easier to find on the Google search console.
- Plugins: You can add new features to your website using WordPress plugins. You are even provided with a guide to understand plugins better.
- Marketing tools: It includes tools like SEO and social media that help you reach a larger audience, promote your work, and help you become a better writer.
Pros | Cons |
You can post-schedule your blogs. | It is not very beginner-friendly. |
There is no limit to the number of visitors visiting your website simultaneously. | |
This website helps protect your site from malware or viruses. |
For WordPress, the below mentioned pricing options are offered:
Plan | Payment |
Starter | $1.92/month |
Explorer | $3.36/month |
Creator | $7.68/month |
Entrepreneur | $13.82/month |
Cloud | $65/month |
Enterprise | $25,000/year |
Helping Writers become Authors
If it isn’t obvious from the name, Helping Writers become Authors is among the best resources I found online for becoming a better writing easily. They provide various articles covering different aspects of story writing, like characters, scene structure, etc.
Furthermore, they even tell you what you are doing wrong under the ‘Common Writing Mistakes’ article, making them an ideal writing website to help you become a better writer.
For those who struggle in proofreading the content they curate a list of professional editors. The editors are listed based on their services, genre of expertise, and rates. Hence, you can find the one that matches your needs.
With Helping Writers become Authors you get:
- Audio Clips: The articles are provided with audio versions for visually impaired writers.
- Comments: If you have any doubts, you can comment under the article, and the author will see it and provide a solution.
- Search bar: There is a category search bar for you to filter out the aspect of writing on which you need guidance. It will show articles related to the given aspect.
- yWriter: It is a word processor that keeps track of your work. A free tutorial video is provided on this website.
- Courses: A few paid courses focus on story aspects, like creating better characters.
Pros | Cons |
A free Scrivener template is provided to outline and structure your story. | Story reviewing services are not provided. |
It has a glossary for writing terms to acquaint you with new terms or phrases. | |
It provides paid writing software to outline your novel. |
This service offers the below mentioned pricing options:
Product | Payment |
Courses | It depends on the course |
Articles | Lifetime Free |
Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
Association of Writers and Writing Programs is best for choosing from various writing courses and programs. Its database of writing programs includes details like tuition, faculty, admissions, etc. Hence, it helps you to find an appropriate program quickly.
They even organize conferences, festivals, and retreats that you can choose from based on your writing needs. Hence, I believe that it offers a medium to interact with its demographically diverse writer community, offering various perspectives. Some of the events may offer scholarships.
AWP has the below mentioned features:
- Contests: Various contests are organized occasionally, e.g., Writing Organisation Award, Intro Journal Award, etc.
- AWP Awards Series: The books by past winners in this contest can be purchased from the website. Hence, it would be a good way to market your book.
- Submissions: You can make free submissions that reach its 15,000 members. Submissions are made public after being moderated.
- Podcast: Some episodes from the AWP Conferences are available as podcasts and can be tuned in by the members.
- AWP Member Bookshelf: The members can list their new and forthcoming books on the bookshelf, which would be open to purchase by all the other members (basically, you can promote your books).
- Resources: It accepts job listings and has articles providing career advice, publishing, and current literary affairs.
Pros | Cons |
You can search programs/listings using keywords, which eases the search. | Most of their facilities can only be used by their members. |
User-friendly interface is quite straightforward for beginners and inexperienced writers. | |
It’s a good place to market and promote your books. |
Here are the pricing options for AWP:
Plan | Pricing |
Individual Membership | $75 per year or $120 for two years |
Individual Membership (students or adjuncts) | $49 per year |
Academic Membership | Variable pricing is based on the number of faculty and students. |
WC&C Membership | $225 per year |
How does writing websites help you become a better writer?
Writing websites provide you with resources such as tutorials or articles to teach you to improve your writing or grow your readership. Many writing websites also help you engage with your audience, which will help you get constructive feedback.
They help you work towards making your writing skills better and more inclined toward your audience’s interests. Some of the key ways in which websites help you become a better writer include:
- Tutorials: Proper how-to guides, expert advice, audio/video tutorials can go a long way in helping you learn and sharpen the skills.
- Experience: Platforms like Fiverr help you become a better writer by offering plenty of experience through various channels.
- Earning: In addition, writers can use these platforms to better earn revenue that can be reinvested towards their own career growth in the future.
Are writing websites beginner-friendly?
It depends on the website to website. Some websites to become a better writer are more geared towards beginners, for example NaNoWriMo. Whereas, other websites for improving writing skills are attuned to the needs of skilled professionals or writers with little experience in their field and help them grow better in their respective genre(s).
FAQs
Conclusion
We have listed the 9 best #WritingWebsites for becoming a better writer. To help you make a reasonable choice, an analysis of the websites mentioned above is given below.
Best for | Tool Name |
Best for beginners | NaNoWriMo |
Best for growing your readership | Wattpad |
Best for improving your writing | Writer’s Digest |
Warm Regards,
Aditya,
@adityamilyin
Blame, resentment, whining, and complaining are excuses we make when were not living the life we came here to live. ?? Live Optimistic...
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