Actually helpful writing sites

I keep wanting to write a post about actually helpful writing sites because it's rare to find a parent who has the time between marketing him/herself, social networking, earning a living, and actually (ahem) getting some creative writing done, to browse random writing websites in search of helpful places to bookmark.

So back in June, I started trying to collect websites that I found actually helpful (as opposed to those that are good for marketing - like Goodreads and LinkedIN - both are very useful, but not particularly helpful. They tend to suck your time as often as not.)

Well, I did find this great website called WritersWin.com - it seems to have a plethora of good advice and doesn't demand a membership fee (always nice).  But other than that, I found a lot of fantastic articles spread out across lots of various writing websites. So I approached it differently, I tried asking this question as a poll on Facebook and then on LinkedIN, but I guess people don't do polls.

In my own browsing I found a lot of sites that claimed to be great, but they were often rehash of the same lame articles "how to get an agent" and "how to write a character" - these are questions better asked in the Google Search bar because you'll get a list of articles that actually refer to your issue.

And that's what I left off at - we who hardly have time to get through an issue of the New Yorker, much less checking a website every day or two will likely do best by just Googling our questions at the universe. Someone has certainly written an article about every one of our writing issues.

Yet, in this age of something-for-everyone, I keep wishing there was some website that was just perfect for me, as a writer.

So, dear reader-of-this-blog, I leave it in your capable hands. What is your favorite website that is actually helpful to your writing? Maybe the question is too broad because a beginning writer and one that is published several times over might need different advice.  So I'll alter it a bit: what is your favorite website that is actually helpful to your writing--and why?