Ever since I first dreamed of being a novelist and sitting down to write my first novel in a spiral-bound notebook (never finished it, but I wish I could be that young again), I never gave much thought to the basic tools of writing. If I had a computer, I used a word processor. If I didn’t have access to a computer, I wrote everything out longhand.

Now that I’m all grown up, my tool of choice is usually my trusty Macbook. I use OpenOffice as my word processor of choice because I’m such a huge fan of open source software. And I’ve never given this much thought, until recently.

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Writing fiction is an interesting pursuit. I am always amazed at how stories can take on a life of their own and veer away sharply from even the most carefully crafted outline. How does that happen? I have no idea. But lately, I’ve noticed something else – that the stories I write in my experimental notebook are often easier and more enjoyable to write than those that I carefully plan and outline.

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It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the Grateful Dead. I was lucky to catch their Spring ‘09 concert in Chicago back on May 4, and you will usually hear their music playing while I write, read, drive around town and even while surfing the intertubes. I’m not very musically talented, so taking lessons from them from that standpoint is pretty useless. However, writing is a creative endeavor like music. In that regard, there are a few lessons all you creative writers out there can learn from the Dead.

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I’ve posted about this before but I think it is worth repeating again – only because I still struggle with this myself. Right now I’m working on a fiction project and it’s at a crossroads. I’m having a hard time with the plot and I don’t like the writing I’ve done so far. Should I give up on the story and move on to something else? Or should I keep working on the story until it’s finished in hopes it turns out good. Remember, with the latter option I can still edit, re-write and repeat as often as necessary.

There’s a little saying I use at moments like these to push me into the right direction:

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I just finished reading the book Sail (aff link) by James Patterson. This is actually the first book by Patterson I have read. I was looking for something entertaining and light, and well, that’s about all it was.

However, despite flat characters and a very disappointing ending, one part of the novel did intrigue me. Patterson went back and forth between viewpoints. Some of the book was written in the first-person, as events unfolded for the main character Katherine Dunne. But at other times, the narrative was in third-person so we (the reader) can see what other characters are doing and thinking. What did I think of this shifting viewpoint?

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If you are going to be in San Francisco on July 18 then you might want to consider going to the InStock Conference. The one-day event focuses on ‘the business and marketing of self-publishing.’ Here’s the press release that was emailed to me a few days ago:

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Writers know that inspiration can come at any time: Driving down the freeway at 80 miles an hour, walking through the grocery store, in the bathroom, and just about anywhere else you won’t have a pencil and paper handy. I’ve always advocated getting your ideas down on paper as soon as possible because I can never seem to remember them (or at least, not as well) later on. Sometimes writing down your ideas isn’t possible. What’s a writer to do?

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In this tight economy, the gatekeepers of the publishing world (i.e. agents and large publishing houses) are keeping their gates closed a little more. This is sad news for unpublished writers who have dreams of seeing their words in print. Is the system fair? No, not by a long shot. Even in a good economy, the chances of getting your book published aren’t good. Just the sheer number of writers out there ensure that most of us will live in obscurity.

However, this doesn’t mean there is no hope. Advancing technology and a number of high-profile success stories have really lit a fire under the world of self-publishing. Being a successful author doesn’t mean hitting the New York Times bestselling list, or even selling millions of copies of your latest masterpiece. By self-publishing your writing, you can be a successful author and also make a tidy profit.

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If you’re a writer, then you’re going to have to deal with a certain amount of criticism. It’s a fact of life. Developing a thick skin is crucial, and just as important, knowing the types of criticism to take seriously and the types to let roll off your back and forget about. Criticism might be one of the toughest issues for writers to deal with, especially when starting out.

Why can criticism be so damaging? Because writing, no matter if it’s a short story or an article for your local newspaper, is extremely personal. You are putting a part of yourself out there, exposed to the public. I touched on this part of writing in an earlier post “Are you afraid of being a writer?”

So how do you deal with criticism as a writer?

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If you write fiction and/or poetry, then chances are you are always looking for ways to be more creative. And being creative can be difficult in the modern world we live in, especially if you are constantly bombarded by ‘real world’ anxiety from keeping your job, paying bills, putting food on the table, and the innumerable other minutia of everyday life.

I believe a lot of creativity just comes naturally to us, and most people are creative in one way or another. But you can also work at being creative, and that’s where this post comes in. I’m going to list a few ways that you can increase your creativity, without having to be a born creative genius.

First off, I should mention that I’m not an expert, doctor, scientist, or even a ‘guru’ of what I’m talking about in this post. Everything I write about here is based on my own personal experience. Everyone is different, so your own results may vary.

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