encore presentation: useful websites for poets & writers & bloggers ~ (inter)national poetry month April 2014

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(inter)national poetry month
April 2014

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encore presentation

useful sites
for poets & writers & bloggers

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do you ever find yourself needing a definition or a synonym? or you want the lyrics to a song? how about searching for images which you can use in a post? sometimes i want to research a certain type of flower or a fairy tale. maybe you have a question about how to do something on your blog. the sites i go to for these things & more are the types of sites i have listed in this post. i would love for you to leave a comment to let us know what other sites you use.

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below are some of the sites i have found to be the most useful:
{ in alphabetical order }

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{ either click on the site name
or copy & paste the URL into your browser }

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BLOGGING HELP & TIPS ~

BLOGGER.com ~ this is the “help” site for blogspot.com blogs
{ http://support.google.com/blogger/?hl=en }

HOW TO MAKE MY BLOG. COM ~ tips & tools for bloggers
{ http://www.howtomakemyblog.com/ }

PROBLOGGER ~ tips & tools for bloggers
{ http://www.problogger.net/ }

WORDPRESS.COM ~ this is the “help” site for wordpress.com blogs
{ http://en.support.wordpress.com/ }

WORDPRESS.ORG ~ extra help for wordpress.com blogs
{ http://wordpress.org/ }

WORDPRESS.ORG ~ FREE PLUGINS DIRECTORY for wordpress.com blogs
{ http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ }

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DICTIONARIES ~

Dictionary.com ~ dictionary & thesaurus
{ http://dictionary.reference.com/ }

Merriam-Webster ~ dictionary & thesaurus
{ http://www.merriam-webster.com/ }

The Free Dictionary ~ dictionary, thesaurus & encyclopedia
{ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ }

Webster’s ~ dictionary & thesaurus
{ http://www.webster-dictionary.org/ }

Wiktionary ~ dictionary & thesaurus
{ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page }

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FONT & PHOTOGRAPH SPECIAL EFFECTS ~

upside down and/or backward text
{ http://www.upsidedowntext.com/ }

glitter effects for fonts and photos
{ http://glitterboo.com/ }

glowing text with animation options
{ http://glowtxt.com/ }

gothic fonts
{ http://pookatoo.com/ }

Shape collages
{ http://www.shapecollage.com/ }

special characters & fonts available in Windows ~
click on START, either go into ALL PROGRAMS or enter into the SEARCH box ~
CHARACTER MAP

tilt-shift photograph effects
{ http://tiltshiftmaker.com/ }

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IMAGES ~

clip art ~ free use of a wide selection of clip art for non-commercial use
{ http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm }

deviantArt {look for “some rights reserved” }
{ http://www.deviantart.com/ }

flickr.com/creative commons { look for “some rights reserved” ~ click on that and it will show you which type of creative commons license }
http://www.flickr.com/cr eativecommons/

flickr.com LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IMAGES
{ http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/ }

google.com IMAGES { look for “some rights reserved” }
{ http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi }

ImageChef Word Mosaic { make them yourself }
{ http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/ }

publicdomainpictures.net
{ http://publicdomainpictures.net }

twitpic.com ~ photographs { look for “some rights reserved” }
{ http://twitpic.com/ }

we heart it.com { look for “some rights reserved” }
{ http://weheartit.com/ }

Wikimedia Commons IMAGES ~ especially artwork
{ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images }

Wikipedia.org ARTS
{ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Arts }

WikiPaintings.org
{ http://www.wikipaintings.org/ }

Yahoo.com IMAGES
{ http://images.search.yahoo.com/images }

UNSPLASH (free to use photographs but be polite and link back)
{ http://unsplash.com/ }

ARTWORK (ie: PAINTINGS) in the United States are considered to be in the PUBLIC DOMAIN SEVENTY YEARS AFTER THE ARTIST’S DEATH

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MISCELLANEOUS ~

About.com ~ classic literature, including poetry
{ http://classiclit.about.com/ }

Glossary of Poetic Terms
{ http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html }

goodreads.com ~ poetry
{ http://www.goodreads.com/genres/poetry }

Martha Stewart ~ recipes, crafts and “good things”
{ http://www.marthastewart.com/ }

mental_floss ~ trivia, facts, miscellaneous information
{ http://www.mentalfloss.com/ }

PoemHunter.com ~ find poets, poems, song lyrics, quotations and more
{ http://www.poemhunter.com/ }

Poetry Glossary at Poets.org
{ http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17105 }

Wikimedia Commons ~ free to use media – images, sounds, video
{ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page }

Wikipedia.org ~ online “encyclopedia”
this is where i go to research artists or fairy tales or poets or poetry forms etc.
{ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page }

Wikisource ~ Library
{ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page }

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POETRY FORM Resources ~

dVerse ~ Poets Pub
{ http://dversepoets.com/category/formforall/ }

imaginary garden with real toads
{ http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/search/label/format%20challenge }

my heart’s love songs ~ poetry forms
{ http://myheartslovesongs.com/2014/04/04/encore-presentation-poetry-forms-international-poetry-month-april-2014/ }

POETS.org
{ http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/197 }

The Teacher’s Guide
{ http://www.theteachersguide.com/poetrymonth.htm }

Wikipedia
{ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_form#Forms }

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QUOTES ~

looking for a quote or wanting to know who said it? search options by quote or author

brainyquote.com ~
{ http://www.brainyquote.com/ }

goodreads.com ~ popular quotes
{ http://www.goodreads.com/quotes }

Wikiquote.org ~
{ http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page }

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SEARCH ENGINES ~

Bing
{ http://www.bing.com/# }

Bing Images
{ http://www.bing.com/images?FORM=Z9LH }

Google
{ https://www.google.com/ }

Google Images
{ https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi }

Google ~ tips for narrowing your search
{ http://thewritesisters.blogspot.com/2009/06/sunday-sharing-narrowing-your-search.html }

Yahoo
{ http://www.yahoo.com/ }

Yahoo Images
{ http://images.search.yahoo.com/images }

Search the deep web ~ tips and tools for more extensive searches
{ http://www.online-college-blog.com/features/100-useful-tips-and-tools-to-research-the-deep-web/ }

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SOCIAL MEDIA ~

Facebook ~ this is the “help” site for Facebook
{ http://www.facebook.com/help/?ref=pf }

Pinterest ~ this is the “help” site for Pinterest
{ http://pinterest.com/about/help/ }

Twitter ~ this is the “help” site for Twitter
{ https://support.twitter.com/ }

i have only mentioned the most popular sites ~ go HERE for a comprehensive list
{ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites }

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SONG LYRICS & MUSIC VIDEOS ~

search by artist or song title { there are often discrepancies in the lyrics }

A – Z Lyrics Universe
{ http://www.azlyrics.com/ }

AllTheLyrics.com
{ http://www.allthelyrics.com/ }

Lyrics.com
{ http://www.lyrics.com/ }

Songlyrics.com
{ http://www.songlyrics.com/ }

YouTube.com ~ music videos
{ http://www.youtube.com/ }

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WRITING TIPS, INFO & FREE SOFTWARE

Fear of Writing ~ writing tips
{ http://fearofwriting.com/blog/ }

How to write a memo ~ writing tips
{ http://jennifaye.wordpress.com/ }

RHYMEZONE.COM ~ find rhymes, definitions, synonyms, antonyms, homophones & more
{ http://rhymezone.com/ }

VersePerfect FREE software program from Softonic.com ~
the program gives you phrases, proper nouns and common rhymes for the words you need; famous quotes that help you finish your poem with speed. it has the Hyperbolic Thesaurus, which is a kind of semantic chart; online dictionaries, thesaurus suggestions and Wikipedia files are just a click away. (not all the rhymes suggested are phonetically okay)
{ i have downloaded the program but have not yet used it. }
{ http://verseperfect.en.softonic.com/ }

write to done
{ http://writetodone.com/ }

writing prompt sites ~ a list of sites i put together in one post (sorry ~ links have not been updated yet for 2014)
{ http://myheartslovesongs.com/2013/04/22/international-poetry-month-april-2013-encore-presentation-places-to-play/ }

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