Links for New Zealand Writers
News Sites for Journalists
- Google News – top stories of the day.
- Yahoo News NZ – news and latest headlines.
- New Zealand News.Net – daily breaking news, in-depth features and business and finance coverage.
- Stuff – a comprehensive New Zealand-based news platform.
- New Zealand Herald Online – latest breaking news, analysis and opinion from New Zealand and around the world.
- NZ Listener – New Zealand’s top current affairs magazine.
Online Dictionaries
- Princeton’s Dictionary and Thesaurus
- One Look Reverse Dictionary – enter a word, phrase, description or pattern in the search bar to find synonyms, related words and more.
- The Free Dictionary – another excellent dictionary and thesaurus.
- YourDictionary – an easy-to-use dictionary and language website with extensive definition, synonym, antonym, example and reference article libraries.
- Visual Thesaurus – discover the connections between words in a visually captivating display.
International Writing Markets and Writing Competitions
- The Short Story – short story collections, tips, articles, events, competitions, workshops and projects.
- Duotrope – a subscription-based service listing over 7,000 active fiction, poetry, non-fiction and visual art publishers and agents.
- Worldwide Freelance – one of the largest online databases of freelance writing markets. Plus, writer’s guidelines for 2,000+ publications.
- Firstwriter – writing competitions.
- Writers’ Forum is a high-quality monthly UK magazine for writers of all genres, fiction, non-fiction and poetry. They run frequent competitions. Issues can be purchased here.
- Flash500 – flash fiction, short story, and novel opening competitions.
New Zealand Scriptwriting
- New Zealand Writers Guild
- Creative NZ – national arts development agency of the New Zealand government.
- New Zealand Film Commission – a government agency that invests in short and feature films.
- Playmarket – performance licences, script advice, playwright support and bookshop.
- The Big Idea – an online hub that provides news, updates, jobs, opportunities, events, ideas and inspiration from across the creative industries.
- Script to Screen – a charitable organisation dedicated to developing the craft and culture of storytelling for the screen in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Fiction Writing Links
- Picturing Books – a fascinating site for authors of young children’s literature.
- Creative Writing Now – writing tips, ideas, articles and courses to get you going.
- The Story Starter – randomly generated writing prompts.
- Timeline Generator – generate a timeline of events for your story.
- Reedsy Plot Generator – randomly generated plot combinations to inspire you.
- Oneword – a great online writing exercise.
- The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel – Randy Ingermanson’s innovative approach to novel writing.
- Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes – a quick exercise designed to sketch out the major events of your novel.
- PBW Stories – novel outline templates.
- Holly Lisle’s Create a Character Clinic
- … and Create a Culture while you’re at it!
- But I Don’t Know How to Critique! – a guide to critiquing writing.
- The Theory of Critiquing
- Overcoming the Fear of Writing a Synopsis – tips and advice on writing a synopsis.
- Proper Manuscript Format – a formatting guide and example manuscript.
- Ten Things About Novel Proposals, Queries and Synopses
- How to Find a (Real!) Literary Agent – some advice on finding the right agent.
- Duotrope Publishers and Agents – a huge list of poetry, fiction and non-fiction publications.
- Creative Commons – licensing and copyright.
- Flash Fiction Online – a flash fiction e-zine.
- Creative Writing Prompts
- FictionAddiction – resources for fiction writers and readers.
- All Poetry – allows members to post and read poetry; provides a forum and publishing services; hosts contests.
- Poetry Online – an online journal where people can submit their poetry for publication. Also runs a fellowship.
- MDG Solutions – creative writing resources for beginners.
New Zealand Book Publishing Information
- The New Zealand Society of Authors
- Read NZ Te Pou Muramura – promotes reading in New Zealand; offers various programmes, resources and insights into the local publishing scene.
- Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand – a platform for discovering new releases and industry events.
- Manuscript Appraisal Agency – manuscript appraisals and editorial services.
- Publishers Association of New Zealand – find publishers by category.
- New Zealand Books – for information and updates on books and publishers.
Search Engines for Research
- Yahoo Search
- Search NZ – a searchable directory of websites maintained by local organisations and individuals.
- Semantic Scholar – a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – find open access journals and articles.
- Lukol – an anonymous internet search engine.
- com – search engine.
- FactBites – blog encyclopaedia.
- Mojeek – web, image, news and other search functions.
- Bing – Microsoft’s search engine.
- CORE – open access research papers.
- Google Scholar – Google’s academic search engine.
- RefDesk – a fact checker.
- Ask a Librarian – ask a librarian from the National Library for information on any topic.
- How Stuff Works – an educational website covering a vast range of topics from health and science to entertainment and lifestyle.
New Zealand Directories and Sources of Information
- Yellow – business directory.
- Curlie – search for websites by category.
- Google Groups – online discussion groups. You can start a new group or join an existing one.
- Hutt City Council – local community services directory.
- Medical Research Institute of New Zealand – health research articles and information.
- Health Research Council – insights into the latest health-related research, funding opportunities and community-led initiatives in New Zealand.
- Cancer Society of New Zealand – comprehensive information on various types of cancer and their treatment.
- Heart Foundation NZ – find a wealth of information on heart health.
- Statistics New Zealand – offers a wide range of local statistical data.
- Legislation New Zealand – all bills and acts passed by government. You can also find these in legal newspapers, or sites like The Knowledge Basket.
- Institute of Professional Editors – professional association for Australian and New Zealand editors.
Writing Resource Sites
- Travcom – a not-for-profit association for travel writers, photographers, editors, publishers and travel-related communicators in New Zealand.
- Bartleby – browse this archive for over 11,000 searchable quotations.
- Writer’s Relief – a literary submission service.
- Internet Writing Workshop – free online writing workshops/critique.
- National Library of New Zealand
- Poetry International – poetry and news about poets from around the globe.
- The Guardian: Authors A–Z – an alphabetical list of famous authors with links to related articles.
- American Press Institute – a resource centre for journalists.
- Turnitin – plagiarism and AI-writing detection.
- Wikipedia – the online knowledge library for when you need to know more about any subject under the sun.
- ProfNet – a service that connects journalists to expert sources for interviews.
- The New Zealand Official Yearbook Collection – a comprehensive statistical picture of life in New Zealand from 1893 to 2012. Information from succeeding years can be found on the Stats NZ
- Snopes – a site that conducts extensive fact-checking research on popular topics.
- Wordorigins – an etymology site.
- com’s Frequently Asked Questions
- New Zealand Government – includes guides to New Zealand life and culture.
- Write It Sideways – information and inspiration for writers.
- Writing-World – useful resources for writers.
- net – writing resources, news and discussion.
- Writers Write – information about books, writing and publishing.
- WritersWeekly – a freelance writing e-zine.
- Writers on Writing – a podcast featuring interviews with authors from debut to Pulitzer Prize winners.
- Writers Guild of America
- Writer’s Digest – enhance your writing career.
- Make a Living Writing – information, inspiration and resources for freelance writers.
- Winning Writers – resources for writers and poets.
- Vision – a resource for writers.
- Verse daily – a daily publication of poetry.
- The Writer’s Almanac
- The Writers’ Group Blog – four women share how they create their unique literary lives.
- The Writer Magazine – advice and inspiration for writers.
- The Scriptorium Webzine – a virtual room for writers.
- Romance Writers of New Zealand – a community for romance writers.
- Romance Writers of Australia – another community for romance writers.
- Jess Michaels – a resource for romance writers.
- The Authors Guild – a community for professional authors.
- New Zealand Poetry Society
- Susan Orlean – staff writer for The New Yorker.
- Creative Life Writing – tips, techniques and published stories from an indie author.
- Poets & Writers – tools for writers.
- Writing and Publishing News
- Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa – a peer-reviewed journal examining media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.
- Food Writers New Zealand – an organisation for professional food communicators.
- Priya Krishna – some useful information for food writers.
- Duotrope Listings by the Numbers – a list of publishers and agents by category, medium and country.
- Bookwire – new books and authors.
- The American Journalism Review
- Absolute Write – a comprehensive informational site for writers.
- Medium – a community of readers and writers.
- The Writer’s Circle – a blog for writers.
- The Time Is Now – writing prompts and exercises.
- Literary Mama – a webzine specifically for writing mothers.
- Vocal – an all-in-one platform where you can share your stories, build an audience and earn money.
- Writing – a diverse, thriving, bustling online community of creativity.
- Ten Habits of Highly Creative People – an article from Greater Good Magazine.