digital tools for writers, writers block
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Indian-American author Vikram Chandra announced on Wednesday that he would soon launch a tool for writers, Granthika- based on the Sanskrit word granth, to help writers keep track of their narrative. 

According to the website, http://granthika.co/, the tool is designed to help fiction, non-fiction, fan-fiction, academic, scientific, legal, business writers, journalists among others. 

The tool is based on reflective text, which "is a completely unprecedented, patent-pending technology which transparently blends syntax and semantics, words and their meanings." It will unify text and knowledge "in one seamless fabric", according to their website. 

Authors writing series of books or extensive academic work often find it hard to keep track of plots, characters and timelines leading to slip-ups and glaring errors. Even JK Rowling and Arthur Conan Doyle have made mistakes in their writing after all. This tool can help eliminate any continuity issues as it is based on artificial intelligence. 

While the tool sounds revolutionary and all, it is not up for grabs any time soon pending beta test.

Meanwhile, here's a list of five digital tools for writers:

1. yWriter: The tool doesn't have a word processor, but it helps in plotting your work extensively.The tool is great for planning scenes, characters and chapters. yWriter is available for free download.

2. Scrivener: This is a project management tool and word processor, which can help not only with planning lengthy plots, scenes, characters and chapters but also to make storyboards. It comes with a scriptwriting tool as well. This one does not come free though. It costs $40 for Windows and $45 for Mac. 

3. Creative writing prompts: The website is a repository of writing prompts to overcome the famed writers' block. Just hover over any of the numbers and it would display a prompt in text format. It is a free tool and is not restricted to specific scenarios. The website also prompts one to describe spaces. The website is a great practice tool for getting into the perfect frame of mind for writing. 

4. Haiku Jam app: Now, this is not a tool to plot characters or novels directly, but it can help stir your creative juices. It is a collaborative tool where three people come together, whether friends or randomly chosen persons from anywhere in the world, to write a Haiku. Haiku is a traditional Japanese three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. This is free to download and is a great way to kill time. 

5. Hemingway Editor: This tool has been much talked about due to its Hemingway connection. The tool helps you chop off unnecessary parts in writing in the same Earnest Hemingway fashion (keep it short and simple). The tool highlights parts of your writing and suggest changes. The tool is priced at $6.99 on Mac OS X and Windows. 

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