You may think you have all the information you need when you sit down to write, but I bet that quickly changes once you get going. Resources are incredibly important to writers! It can be for content research, definitions, thesauruses, translations, or formatting. Having good, reliable, resources to reach out to can make, or break, your piece. Below are some of the best resources I have encountered.
Purdue OWL
The site is run by Purdue University, and has an incredible amount of writing, and researching resources. Everything from general writing, to writing English as a second language, and resume writing tips. I find the information on formatting particularly helpful. The information on MLA and APA format are kept up to date since, surprisingly, formatting rules tend to change. What some writers tend to forget easily, or overlook, is punctuation for quotes and citations. There a lot of rules regarding quotes and citations, which makes it really tricky to remember! Don't worry though, all the rules are extensively covered with many examples. You can even get teaching/tutoring through the site. All of their information is very clear, very descriptive, and easy to access, so if you have ANY questions when you're writing, come here first.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Lexis Nexis
This a very specialized data base, and may not have the right information for some authors, but is still a great resource if you're researching characters, or other academic works. It is mostly full of legal articles when you first look at it. However, it does have an academic database with current articles that are relevant to culture right now. When you first come to the data base, you will get a list of "Hot Topic Links." This usually has the same topics you'd see on the 10 o'clock news, but not always. From there you can search the news, legal cases, and information on over 80 million companies. You are not limited to searching in just those categories, however. It is great for research, even if it is just background for a story. Lexis Nexis has a ton of researchers, and editors, so from what I have seen (after using this database for 4 years of debate research) their information is reliable and accurate.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/
JSTOR
This is short for, Journal Storage. It is a digital library full of academic journals, primary sources, and books from all over the world. Some information you need to be a college student to access, but other information you can get to with no affiliation. What makes it great (in my opinion) is that you can browse by subject. So if your book is centered around a specific topic, you can search for that topic and get a lot of different information. You can also browse by subject, or publisher. You can even save specific works, citations, or pages, and set up alerts for articles.
http://www.jstor.org/
EasyBib
If you're writing fiction, you probably have no need for a bibliography, but if you're writing academic or non fiction, this is a great tool. Bibliographies have a lot of rules, and they change depending on what type of source you are using. EasyBib will create a correctly formatted bibliography for you once you input the information about your source. They also have a lot of other information. There are links to webinars, researching database, as well as essay checks. This site has a lot of writing education to offer, and it's free!
http://www.easybib.com/
LEO
This is the best translation source that I have found. While they do not have all languages, many of the popular languages are included in this online dictionary. If you're looking for a translation to include in your work, definitely use this resource. The languages covered on this site are, German, French, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Italian. Google translate isn't the best for translation, because it will give you only one definition (usually). Leo will show you all the different meanings of the word, or phrase, and its usage.
https://dict.leo.org/
Dictionaries
I don't have a favorite, or best, dictionary or thesaurus because it entirely depends on what word you're looking for! There are different types of dictionaries, that will give you the best, and most relevant, definition. If you are doing a fiction piece, you probably just need Merriam Webster. However, if you are doing a more academic, or formal piece, you may need the Oxford dictionary. There are also legal, and scientific dictionaries you need to look into depending on your subject matter.
No matter what your problem, or question, is you will need the best resource. It is important to use resources, because it will elevate your piece, and ensure it is an intelligent, well researched, and accurate work of writing.
Purdue OWL
The site is run by Purdue University, and has an incredible amount of writing, and researching resources. Everything from general writing, to writing English as a second language, and resume writing tips. I find the information on formatting particularly helpful. The information on MLA and APA format are kept up to date since, surprisingly, formatting rules tend to change. What some writers tend to forget easily, or overlook, is punctuation for quotes and citations. There a lot of rules regarding quotes and citations, which makes it really tricky to remember! Don't worry though, all the rules are extensively covered with many examples. You can even get teaching/tutoring through the site. All of their information is very clear, very descriptive, and easy to access, so if you have ANY questions when you're writing, come here first.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Lexis Nexis
This a very specialized data base, and may not have the right information for some authors, but is still a great resource if you're researching characters, or other academic works. It is mostly full of legal articles when you first look at it. However, it does have an academic database with current articles that are relevant to culture right now. When you first come to the data base, you will get a list of "Hot Topic Links." This usually has the same topics you'd see on the 10 o'clock news, but not always. From there you can search the news, legal cases, and information on over 80 million companies. You are not limited to searching in just those categories, however. It is great for research, even if it is just background for a story. Lexis Nexis has a ton of researchers, and editors, so from what I have seen (after using this database for 4 years of debate research) their information is reliable and accurate.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/
JSTOR
This is short for, Journal Storage. It is a digital library full of academic journals, primary sources, and books from all over the world. Some information you need to be a college student to access, but other information you can get to with no affiliation. What makes it great (in my opinion) is that you can browse by subject. So if your book is centered around a specific topic, you can search for that topic and get a lot of different information. You can also browse by subject, or publisher. You can even save specific works, citations, or pages, and set up alerts for articles.
http://www.jstor.org/
EasyBib
If you're writing fiction, you probably have no need for a bibliography, but if you're writing academic or non fiction, this is a great tool. Bibliographies have a lot of rules, and they change depending on what type of source you are using. EasyBib will create a correctly formatted bibliography for you once you input the information about your source. They also have a lot of other information. There are links to webinars, researching database, as well as essay checks. This site has a lot of writing education to offer, and it's free!
http://www.easybib.com/
LEO
This is the best translation source that I have found. While they do not have all languages, many of the popular languages are included in this online dictionary. If you're looking for a translation to include in your work, definitely use this resource. The languages covered on this site are, German, French, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Italian. Google translate isn't the best for translation, because it will give you only one definition (usually). Leo will show you all the different meanings of the word, or phrase, and its usage.
https://dict.leo.org/
Dictionaries
I don't have a favorite, or best, dictionary or thesaurus because it entirely depends on what word you're looking for! There are different types of dictionaries, that will give you the best, and most relevant, definition. If you are doing a fiction piece, you probably just need Merriam Webster. However, if you are doing a more academic, or formal piece, you may need the Oxford dictionary. There are also legal, and scientific dictionaries you need to look into depending on your subject matter.
No matter what your problem, or question, is you will need the best resource. It is important to use resources, because it will elevate your piece, and ensure it is an intelligent, well researched, and accurate work of writing.