Tools & Reading
Writing Resources
A curated collection of craft guides, online tools, and communities to support your writing at every stage.
📍 Local & Regional Resources
Stratford Writes
A friendly group for writers in Stratford, Ontario to discuss writing craft, publication, and promotion of our work.
Visit on Facebook →Stratford Arts & Lectures
Stratford Arts & Lectures brings readers and writers together. This is where stories come to life.
stratfordartsandlectures.com →Thursday Night Writers Club
Every Thursday evening from 5:00 to 9:00, come by the library's main floor to write among books you love, alongside new friends and old. You can work on your craft without saying a word, or bounce ideas off your neighbour, all while you enjoy tea and treats in a cozy environment.
splibrary.ca →Stratford Writers Festival
Stratford's celebration of Canadian literature, bringing authors and readers together in the heart of the city.
stratfordwritersfestival.com →London Writers Society
Information, community, and exposure for adult writers of all levels in the London, Ontario area — and the writing curious, too.
londonwriterssociety.ca →KW Writers Alliance
A directory of writing groups in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, plus community for writers across southwestern Ontario.
kwwritersalliance.com →Elora Writing Workshops
Writing workshops based in Elora, Ontario.
elorawritingworkshops.com →Writers Collective of Canada
A charitable arts-health organization that ignites connection by inspiring powerful, authentic stories shared in community.
wcc-cec.org →📖 Craft & Learning
On Writing — Stephen King
Part memoir, part master class. One of the most widely recommended books on the craft and life of writing.
View on Goodreads →Bird by Bird — Anne Lamott
Wise, funny, and deeply human advice on writing and the creative life, including the famous "shitty first drafts" chapter.
View on Goodreads →Story — Robert McKee
A deep dive into narrative structure applicable to fiction, screenwriting, and beyond. Dense but essential.
View on Goodreads →The Elements of Style — Strunk & White
The slim, timeless guide to clear and concise English prose. Worth re-reading every year.
View on Goodreads →Coursera — Creative Writing Specialization
Four-course series from Wesleyan University covering the craft of plot, character, setting, and revision.
Visit Coursera →Writing Excuses
"Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart." Bite-sized craft episodes from published authors.
Listen →Steven Pressfield Online
The author of The War of Art shares hard-won wisdom on overcoming Resistance — the self-sabotage, procrastination, and fear that keep writers from their work.
stevenpressfield.com →The Creative Penn
Tools, tutorials, and resources for authors on writing, publishing, and book marketing from bestselling author Joanna Penn.
thecreativepenn.com →Daily Writing Tips
Practical tips on grammar, style, punctuation, and usage to sharpen your writing one day at a time.
dailywritingtips.com →Writing Mastery Academy
On-demand writing courses, live webinars, and an online community to help you become a more productive, skilled fiction writer.
writingmastery.com →Written Academy
Writing productivity courses and coaching from the authors of Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit that Lasts.
writtenacademy.com →MasterClass — Writing
Online writing classes from the world's best authors, covering craft, storytelling, and the writing life.
masterclass.com →U of T — Certificate in Creative Writing
Get serious about your writing with guidance from professional authors and a supportive community at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies.
learn.utoronto.ca →Queen's University — Academic Writing Certificate
Learn to communicate effectively in academic and professional contexts, completely online from Queen's University.
queensu.ca →Humber College — Creative Writing
Creative writing program from Humber College's School of Media Arts & Design.
humber.ca →🛠 Writing Tools & Software
Scrivener
The gold standard for long-form writing. Organise chapters, notes, research, and drafts in one place.
literatureandlatte.com →Hemingway Editor
Paste your prose and get instant feedback on readability, passive voice, and sentence complexity.
hemingwayapp.com →ProWritingAid
In-depth style, grammar, and consistency analysis. Integrates with Word, Scrivener, and Google Docs.
prowritingaid.com →FocusWriter
A distraction-free writing environment with daily goal tracking. Simple and effective.
gottcode.org →750 Words
A daily writing habit tool. Write 750 words each morning in a private, distraction-free space.
750words.com →Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
The reliable, ad-light thesaurus for finding the right word. Bookmark it.
merriam-webster.com →One Stop for Writers
Powerful plotting tools, worksheets, a character builder, and the largest show-don't-tell descriptive database available.
onestopforwriters.com →Aeon Timeline
A timeline tool built for storytellers — map your plot, track characters across time, and keep your narrative consistent.
aeontimeline.com →Bookflow
A cloud-based writing platform that guides you through ideation, outlining, drafting, and revision in one place.
bookflow.pub →BYOK Studio
An intuitive, focused writing and planning space built to adapt to your creative flow.
byok.io →Obsidian
A powerful, locally-stored note-taking app beloved by writers for plotting, worldbuilding, and drafting — infinitely customizable with plugins for fiction.
obsidian.md →Sudowrite
An AI writing partner built specifically for fiction writers — brainstorm, draft, and revise faster without leaving your creative flow.
sudowrite.com →NotebookLM
Google's AI-powered research notebook — upload your drafts, notes, or sources and get answers, summaries, and connections across all your material.
notebooklm.google.com →ohwrite — Sprint Rooms
Meet your writing goals by doing word sprints with friends in real-time accountability rooms.
ohwrite.co →📬 Publishing & Submission
Duotrope
A searchable database of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction markets. Track your submissions too.
duotrope.com →The Submission Grinder
Free alternative to Duotrope for finding short fiction and poetry markets.
thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com →Writer's Digest — Query Letters
Comprehensive guides to writing query letters, synopses, and finding a literary agent.
writersdigest.com →Reedsy
Connects authors with professional editors, designers, and marketers. Also hosts excellent free courses.
reedsy.com →Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Self-publish your ebook or print book directly to Amazon's global marketplace and reach millions of readers worldwide.
kdp.amazon.com →Apple Books for Authors
Publish and distribute your book directly through Apple Books to readers on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
authors.apple.com →Kobo Writing Life
Publish your ebook directly to Kobo's global store and reach readers in over 190 countries.
kobo.com →FriesenPress
Canada's largest publishing services provider — editing, design, marketing, and promotion for self-publishing authors.
friesenpress.com →Alliance of Independent Authors
A nonprofit organization advising and advocating for self-publishing authors, with resources, ratings, and a global community.
allianceindependentauthors.org →🌐 Community & Inspiration
r/writing — Reddit
A large, active writing community for discussion, prompts, advice, and sharing work.
reddit.com/r/writing →r/WritingPrompts
Thousands of prompts to spark your creativity when you're stuck or just want a quick writing exercise.
reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts →The Rumpus
Literary culture, interviews with authors, and essays on the writing life. A favourite of serious readers.
therumpus.net →Writers' Hour
Daily live writing sessions hosted by the London Writers' Salon — join thousands of writers worldwide for focused, accountable writing time.
writershour.com →Writers' Trust of Canada
One of Canada's most important literary organizations, supporting Canadian writers through awards, grants, and programs.
writerstrust.com →Writing Battle
The league for creative writers — join writing competitions and connect with a supportive community of writers online.
writingbattle.com →London Writers' Salon
Daily writing sessions, expert interviews, and a creative community for writers worldwide.
londonwriterssalon.com →🧑🎨 Character Development
What is a Character Arc? — Reedsy
A clear guide to the three most common types of character arc, with examples drawn from fiction.
reedsy.com →100 Character Development Questions — NowNovel
A comprehensive list of questions to help you understand your characters more deeply and build compelling arcs.
nownovel.com →45 Character Development Questions — MasterClass
Questions to help you breathe life into characters in a first draft — from birthday surprises to moral dilemmas.
masterclass.com →Character Development Questions — Dabble
Sixty-five character development questions (that go beyond eye colour) plus tips on when and how to interview your characters.
dabblewriter.com →101 Character Goals — Dabble
A giant list of character goals that go well beyond the clichés — spark fresh motivation for your protagonist.
dabblewriter.com →Character Sketch Worksheet — EA Deverell
A free downloadable worksheet to help you understand the people in your story — and the real people in your life.
eadeverell.com →Character Sheet Template — Shannon Fallon
A thorough character sheet template for brainstorming and organizing information about characters in a book or series.
shannonfallon.com →✏️ Writing Exercises & Prompts
119 Writing Exercises — Reedsy
A comprehensive directory of writing exercises, filterable by genre and skill level.
reedsy.com →105 Creative Writing Exercises — Imagine Forest
Short 10-minute exercises to beat writer's block and spark new ideas — great for a quick warm-up before a session.
imagineforest.com →24 Writing Exercises — Writers.com
Daily creative writing exercises, from journaling prompts to freewriting practice, to build a consistent writing habit.
writers.com →140 Writing Prompts for Adults — Squibler
A wide variety of creative writing prompts for adults, including dialogue-inspired starters and genre prompts.
squibler.io →Get Unstuck with Freewriting
From stuckpoint to breakthrough — how an exercise from Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers helps unlock what you really want to say.
breakthroughsandblocks.substack.com →