Tools I Can’t Live Without

A short list of things that make the work a little easier.

I’m not big on noise or clutter — not in my writing, not in my workspace, and definitely not in the digital tools I use.

But every so often, I come across something that genuinely supports the way I work or think. When that happens, I hold onto it.

Here are two tools I rely on almost every day — not because someone told me to, but because they help me do what I do with a little more ease, clarity, and intention.

If I find more tools to rave about in the future, I’ll share them here. But for now, there are only two and I’m fine with that. I’d rather have a skimpy list of faves than to try to disenguously promote something that I don’t really believe in.

Grammarly

For catching the little things.

Let me let you in on a little secret… I’m terrible at spelling. I’m not great at catching misplaced commas either. I always second guess myself.

Grammarly is like a second pair of eyes on everything I write. It’s not just for grammar (though it does that well); it helps me keep my tone in check, catch sneaky passive voice, and tidy up the bits that get a little messy when I’m in flow.

I don’t believe good writing comes from robots, but I do believe in thoughtful revision, and this is one of the few tools that actually supports my process without flattening my voice.

Grammarly isn’t always right, so you have to double check that it’s interpreting your intended meaning correctly, but I find it completely indespensable when it comes to flagging punctuation and spelling errors.

I have the pro version, because like a lot of free software out there, you don’t rreally get the most out of the functionality unless you go with the paid version. Can you get by on free? Absolutely. It all depends on your needs, right? But can I personally get by on free as a professional writer? Definitely not.

Squarespace

This site — the one you’re on right now — was built on Squarespace. I’ve used it for years because it lets me create something clean, simple, and mine. No coding, no fuss. Just intuitive tools that let the work speak for itself.

I tried wordpress.com. I tried wordpress.org. The learning curve, the constant monitoring and maintenance, the constant need for new plugins and add ons, the headache and stress of it…. it was just not for me. I ended up spending more time working behind the scenes on my website then I did actually posting content to it. It can be cheaper to go that route, for sure, but you pay for the cost savings in time and frustration. Unless you’re naturally good at or drawn to work of maintaining your site, I wouldn’t recommend it.

I tried Wix and a few others like it too… but settled on Squarespace because the design is top notch, there’s a lot of flexibility, a lot of functionality, and it’s easy to use.

If you’re a writer, artist, or creative of any kind looking for a place to put your work into the world, I’d recommend Squarespace. And as you can tell from this page, I don’t recommend much.

A Note on Affiliate Links

The links on this page are affiliate links, which means that depending on what you do next after you click one of those links, I might earn a small commission. There’s no extra cost to you if you decide to try one of these tools, but it helps me out immensely.