Whether on Windows, Mac, or Linux, the Writer’s Tools extension adds a useful new menu to the popular, open source office suite OpenOffice.org that bakes convenient tools like Google Translate, an online dictionary lookup tool, email backup, remote backup to an FTP server and more directly into the OpenOffice.org free software suite.
If you’re using OpenOffice.org as your main word processor, the Writer’s Tools extension is a must-have. Writer’s Tools is free, works wherever OpenOffice.org does.
Another valuable to is OxygenOffice, also for Windows/Mac/Linux. It adds clip art, advanced PDF functions, and …

I like this prayer I heard from the April 5, 2006 Pre-sanctified Liturgy. It is referred to as a “Prayer behind the Amvon”:
Almighty Master, You created the universe in wisdom. By your ineffable forethought and great goodness, You led us to these sacred days for cleansing of souls and bodies, for subduing passions, and for hope of resurrection. For forty days, You shaped the tablets written with godlike characters for Your servant Moses. Grant also to us, good Lord, to fight the good fight, to finish the course of the …

Using a timer for writing? I’m not sure if it will boost productivity, but at least you can use it to track yourself and measure your progress.
With the introduction of a $10 countdown timer that one can purchase in any housewares department, we can create our own artificial deadlines that create that sense of urgency for us. By setting the timer for 15 minutes to allow us to complete a task, it seems easy to focus and weed out the unimportant. When I use this technique, I get much more …

I loved this quote from Irish-American novelist J. P. Donleavy:
Writing is a way of turning the unhappiest moments of one’s life into money.
Read other quotes from this article.