Here’s the top three resources for writers that I’ve been reading online this week…

• I’ve found Freelance Folder to be an invaluable source of information for marketing tips and setting up as a freelance, as well as providing ideas to stay motivated. One thing a writer needs to stay ahead of the competition is creativity, but from time to time we can all find that there’s a bit of a drought on. 12 Practical Ways to Become Creative outlines the importance of research and isolation in generating creativity, as well as suggesting tools and logical methods (yes, you can mix the two!) to get the creative juices flowing once again.

• Finally the myth of the 5 Minute Article Writers has been debunked over on the WritingThoughts blog! Not all clients are aware of how long an article of average length can take to produce – the writer must also allocate time for research of the topic, organization of material and of course, proofreading the finished product! This blog post delves into the logistics of the ‘5 minute’ claim, and provides you with resources if you are presented with work that you suspect may be plagiarised.

• The importance of sharing information and marketing yourself online as a freelancer cannot be ignored. The guys over at Mashable have produced a set of posts to teach us the merits of Google Wave, which has just been launched (sadly for us though, we’ll have to wait until later in the year to get it). In a nutshell, Google Wave is a real-time communication platform incorporating email, IM, web chat and project management software. To join me in swotting up, have a look at Google Wave: A Complete Guide.

That’s it for today – I’ll be back next week with some more links I love!.