I’ve set up a writing resource directory in order to keep my sidebar less cluttered and to be able to organize and categorize online writing resources. It also allows me to write a short description of the sites I include in the resource directory and link to related blog post I have written or will write in the future. I’ve moved the links I had listed in my sidebar and added a few more to the directory. It’s a work in progress and I will be adding more writing resources as time permits. I may expand the directory to include articles about writing but for now I’m only listing main sites or full featured sub-pages and sub-domains.

I do want to add blogs that are focused on writing eventually. Blogs about writing are not all that easy to find but with Google’s new blog search feature it might be less tedious. There has been an influx of blog directories and search engines in the past year or so but most are just not well organized with well defined categories that include relevant listings. At lease they weren’t the last time I looked.

Most casual Internet surfers do not know how to use a directory, in fact I’d guess most don’t know anything about the biggest directories on the net today, except for maybe Yahoo but I’m guessing they use Yahoo’s search feature rather then their directory. As the search engines have gotten better at returning relevant sites from a search query, directories have become less important. It’s a shame really. Directories, especially human edited directories, are a great resource and once you understand how to use one it will make your online experience much more productive and enjoyable. I may write a tutorial on how to use a directory. It might benefit those who happen across my little writing resource directory once I get it fleshed out with lots of well organized writing sites.

The writing resource directory does have a feature that allows anyone to submit a site for possible inclusion. I’m going to allow others to submit sites if they know of a good resource or own a site about writing for now. If it becomes a spam magnet, I may remove that feature. It also has the ability to offer featured listing, where a site owner pays for a top-of-the-page site placement. I don’t know if I will implement that feature in the future or not. I may just use it to place sites in that I think are authoritative and/or exceptional resources. I’m just exploring the possibilities for now.

Anyway, for anyone passing by my little piece of cyber space and you happen to know of a good resource for writers, please visit the directory and submit the site or leave a comment here with the url and I will check it out. If I think it’s a good resource, I’ll add it. If you do visit the directory and have a suggestion or would like to comment, please do, I’m all ears.