Writers and Authors, I need your advice!?

[me]

I would like to know if anyone has heard of Wizards 4 Word or Recipes for Word? These are programs for MS Word to help writers. Examples;

A Writer's Software suite, the Wizards for Authors add-in for Microsoft Word provides all the wizards, the maximum, the lot, everything plus Book Doctor.

An English grammar checker (style and word usage) called Ghost Reviewer, which is a subset of Book Doctor provides you with the power to validate your work. To learn more, click Grammar Checker
The fiction wizards include novel writing template wizard, Add-a-chapter wizard, Joiner wizard, Plot Wizard, Character Wizard, and Short Story template wizard. To learn more, click Fiction Wizards
The nonfiction wizards include Nonfiction Proposal Wizard, Nonfiction Manuscript Wizard, and Article Wizard. To learn more, click Nonfiction Wizards
Applicable to both fiction and nonfiction, the Marketing Wizards, including two Query Letter Wizards, Synopsis Wizard, and Front Matter Wizard. To learn more, click Marketing Wizards
Agent Wizard will prepare a submission package to as many literary agents as you choose from her database of over 450 agents. She'll print the merged query letter, labels for your mailer and SASE, and all the attachments specified by the particular agent. To learn more, click Agent Wizard The best way to hook an agent.

Can you tell me if this is a good place to start with help on writing, manuscripts, etc. ????
Thank you in ADVANCE!
Mrs. U,
No need for verbal abuse...I am new to the writing world so forgive the fact that I am not a seasoned writer. You sound so bitter! I was merely asking a question!
I have a problem with my pages jumping when I correct or add to my writings and again I am new to this.
So please, if anyone would like to add helpful information I would greatly appreciate it but if all you want to do is bash me or make me look stupid, feel free to jump over to another question and leave mine for those who care to help.
Thank you!
Stacia,
Thank you! ) I cannot vote right now on comments until I get to level 2.

Joss,
Wow, that's a lot and I thank you for your advise. I will check out all of those sites and I do have a twitter account! Are you published yet?
I would also like to say to everyone who responds...I cannot vote on your answer because I am only on level one so if you were voted with a thumbs down, it is not coming from myself.
Thanks everyone!

[Mrs. U]

If you're gullible and clueless enough to actually waste your money on something this ridiculous you have no business writing at all.

Real writers don't need any software other than MS Word, Notepad, or Word Processor for their writing..period.

EDIT:

1. I am not bitter. 2. If you're this thin-skinned right out of the gate and actually think that's mean it's even further proof you have no business writing. What I said to you was far tamer than what I am capable of being.

Writing takes one hell of a thick skin my friend. I don't think you're stupid for wanting help but I do find it ridiculous you feel you need software. With time and training you can learn to write better sans software. Even after 16 years of writing I still struggle with several things but I take the time to LEARN it on my own, not waste my money on useless software designed to help those who are too lazy and/or gullible to take the time to actually learn.

[Stacia Miller]

You should try writing with just a notepad and a pen, or ordinary microsoft word or some similar program. I personally think that when you finish whatever it is that you're writing and you still want the add-in, then go ahead. But with the English Grammer Ghost reviewer, you would probably be best to do it yourself so if you can go back and realise what you could have written better so you can change it. If I were to buy the program, I'd write all of the manuscript before I'd include the add-in. Just my opinion.

[Joss]

I'd advice you to go to the library or bookstore and pick up a few books on novel writing. There are also some great magazines that will help you, too. From time-to-time, I pick up the latest edition of Writer's Digest. It has tons of great advice for writers in different stages of their novel, and even have advice from literary agents and published authors. For grammar, you need to learn this yourself. Simply because a program cannot catch all of your mistakes and sometimes it even flags correct grammar. So, it's fine to use as an elementary tool for your rough drafts, but NEVER use it for the final polish. Go over it with a fine-tooth comb with your own knowledge of grammar and have a friend who's also good at English help you. If you need to brush up on your grammar, Stephen King and other published authors recommend The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. I also recommend Stephen King's book 'On Writing' just to have and read over. He goes over how he planned his first novel and goes over some of the mistakes amateur writers make. You can also find this info online on different writer's forums and websites. The thing is, though, anyone can publish a website over the Internet and give writing advice, and there's a lot of bad writing advice put out there by people who don't know what they're talking about. So, make sure you get your advice from credible sources, hopefully from a published author - not self-published.

I don't know what you mean by your "pages jumping" when you edit your work. When I first started out, two years ago, I got a lot of my information from the Writers Digest website (writersdigest.com). It offers a lot of great advice for amateur authors. I also visited a lot of published author websites at that time; many give writing tips. Find a forum where professional writers hang out, and you can get help and advice there. a place were published writers hang is even better.

The best advice I can give you is to read. Read as much as you can, especially in the genre in which you write. Read with a critical eye for the writing. You'll eventually be able to gauge the good, bad, and ugly of writing, and this will help you objectively judge your own work. You're not going to become a great writer if you can't tell when your work is utter crap and when it's something worth submitting. Also, reading a lot helps you because you'll see how authors do it successfully. Many new writers struggle with passive voice (show vs tell), so when you're reading you'd keep an eye on how authors show what a character is doing rather than telling you. That's the best way to learn writing.

There are many literary agents, editors (publishers), and published authors that blog. They also tweet. I suggest you get a twitter account, if you don't already have one, and start following them. They'll sometimes link to great articles. Follow their blogs because they give great insight into the industry. That's one way you can learn the writer mistakes they see the most so you can avoid them yourself. It's also a way to keep up on the market, but not necessarily the best way. It's always good to know the market of the genre you write. For instance, if you're writing horror, you'll know it's not selling well, so fewer publishers and agents will be willing to take on that type of novel unless it offers something unique and is exceptionally written. I'm not advocating writing based on trends either, but keep track of the market and make a decision if your work is worth writing and then waiting a few years until the market improves or writing it and submitting it because you think it can meet the exceptionally high standards needed to break into the slow market. Notice I never said don't write it if the market it slow. You're always getting in practice with whatever you're writing.

Agents and editors tend to link to each other, so if you find one twitter account or blog, you're bound to find others like it. Follow publisher twitter accounts, too, because that's one way to gauge the market. Better ways to see what publishers are buying is to check out publishers marketplace, you'll need to get a paid account, but that information is there if you ever needed to know. Galley Cat and Publishers Weekly are also sites to follow to keep up on the market.

FYI: Never use a program to send out query letters. It's unprofessional and many literary agents hate it, and yes, they'll know when you've used a program.