I received an email from Karen regarding the post “My Toolkit”:
Hello,
I wanted to thank you for the resources about writing, in your article here online-dentist.hu/en/my-toolkit/. I have learned a lot of things that will improve my writing skills.
While looking for more information on the web, I came across this article: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/best-online-tools-writers/
It contains a list of online tools for writers (from brainstorming and note-taking tools to writing headlines and editing tools), which I found very useful.
I hope you consider adding it to your page, I believe these tools could be very handy to your readers, especially for writers.
Best regards,
Karen
Karen was my first commenter on the blog, so I took the time to read the article she indicated. I found some really useful tools here. I will present these tools, which have already passed a preliminary screening, and if necessary, I will supplement them with tools that are also useful for the Hungarian audience.
This is truly a valuable compilation of tools that can be used to great advantage for writing, but also for other types of computer work.
Let’s see!
1. Grammarly – Best for Proofreading
Grammarly is an intelligent writing tool that improves the spelling, grammar, and style of English texts in real time. It is available as a browser extension, mobile, and desktop application, and helps you communicate clearly and professionally. It also provides personalized suggestions for the tone, readability, and effectiveness of your text. It is free to use with restrictions.
Since I write in Hungarian, I am familiar with this tool, but I do not use it. I tried to find a suitable tool that supports Hungarian writing, but I was unsuccessful. As a last resort, ChatGPT – as a style and language assistant – remained. For example, it can help you correct grammatical errors, rewrite the style (more formal, relaxed, fluent), or check whether the text is clear.
There are spell checkers on the Internet, but such a writing assistant is not available in Hungarian.
2. Scapple – Best for Brainstorming
Scapple is a simple, visual note-taking and mind-mapping program designed primarily for writers and creatives. It allows you to freely place text boxes on the canvas and then connect them according to logical relationships – just like taking notes on paper, only more flexible. It is especially useful for brainstorming, sketching, or organizing thoughts without having to adapt to a fixed structure.
I had not heard of this application before, but I found it useful at first glance. What’s more, it turned out to be a product of the same development company from which I have been happily using Scrivener for years.
This program does not need a Hungarian equivalent, it is a universally usable program. It can be used for free for 30 days, after which you can purchase perpetual usage rights for an affordable amount.
3. Evernote – Best for Capturing Ideas
Evernote is a digital note-taking app that lets you organize text, images, voice memos, and documents in one place. It lets you easily create notes, lists, or even entire project files, which you can organize and label into folders. It syncs across all your devices, so you can access your notes anytime, anywhere.
I checked out this app. It might be good for what it was designed for. I use the aforementioned Todoist for this type of note-taking, but this tool could also be a great alternative for someone who has a lot of ideas and just wants to throw them together before organizing them.
4. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer – Best for First Impressions
This tool sounds really useful: CoSchedule Headline Analyzer is an online tool that helps you write effective, attention-grabbing headlines for marketing, blog, or social media content. It analyzes a given headline for emotional impact, length, keywords, and readability, and then scores it. The goal is to get the headline to get the most clicks and attention online.
I couldn’t try this because I didn’t want to go through the registration process myself.
5. Hemingway App – Best for Improving Your Writing
The Hemingway App is a writing style checker that helps you make your texts clearer, more concise, and easier to read. It highlights complex sentences, passive structures, too many adverbs, and difficult-to-read passages. The app aims to make your writing simple, direct, and effective – in Hemingway’s style.
I was surprised by this app! I conscientiously tried the web app. Without changing anything, I took a few chapters of my post from yesterday and copied them into the editor. It immediately made suggestions for transformation, even though I wrote the texts in Hungarian.
For the sake of example, I also showed it the two paragraphs above. Yay. It found nothing to improve in these two paragraphs.
Since it works so well in my native language, there’s no need to look for an alternative!
6. Readable – Best for Engaging Your Audience
Readable is an online text assessment tool that analyzes the readability of text based on various linguistic and stylistic indicators. It scores the text according to well-known readability indices (e.g. Flesch–Kincaid) and offers suggestions for clearer, more audience-friendly writing. It is especially useful for marketers, writers, and content creators who want to make their messages as easy to understand as possible.
This application only works in English and has a limited range. I tried it with a Hungarian text, but it said it was almost unreadable. In vain, our language is difficult to understand with an English head. When I copied the second – English – text, it already said that I had reached the limit.
7. Cliché Finder – Best for Ensuring You’re Understood
ClicheFinder.net is a simple online tool that helps you identify clichés and hackneyed expressions in your text. It compares the text you enter with a database of commonly used clichés and then highlights them so that the writer can use fresh, more unique wording. It is especially useful in creative writing, marketing, or editing, where originality and effective wording are important.
Unfortunately, there is no such tool for Hungarian.
8. Google Docs – Best for Collaboration
I won’t write about this application. I think it’s so standard that there’s no need to talk about it.
9. StayFocusd App – Best for Staying on Task
StayFocusd is a productivity extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge that limits the time you spend on distracting websites. The tool allows you to block specific websites or even the entire internet, except for a list of allowed sites, and you can set the duration of the block and the working days. It also has a feature called “Nuclear Option” that instantly blocks selected websites when you need maximum focus.
I added this extension to my browser. Just in case…
10. Noisli – Best for Boosting Productivity
Noisli is an online sound generator that offers a variety of background noises – such as rain, wind, sea, forest or coffee shop noises – to support concentration, relaxation or creativity. On the playlists page, you can find pre-composed sound mixes for different purposes, such as focused work, studying, relaxation or sleeping. These sound compositions help block out distracting environmental noises, improve productivity and create a more pleasant atmosphere for work or rest.
For me, this app is the bonus for writing this post. I used to use an app where I really liked the sound of rain falling on a tent, but that app became a paid app. This one offers the same experience. I’m glad I found it!
Summary
Of the ten recommended apps, I knew two and I use one regularly. (Grammarly, Google Docs.) The Hemingway App is a big surprise for me, I will definitely use it in the future. Scapple is also installed on my computer, and I suspect I will buy its license. Evernote is not new to me, but I have my own tool. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer, Readable and Cliché Finder would be great if they were available for the Hungarian language. StayFocusd App and Noisli have become new members of my toolkit. I already love Noisli, I am listening to it now. It is raining…