Writers shared their work

The library hosted our first-ever Writer's Open Mic event last night. November was National Novel Writing Month and, since Missoula has so many amazing creative writers, we too the opportunity to celebrate with an open mic night. Any Missoula writer could come and read their masterpiece to the crowd - and we heard some impressive writing. Here are a couple pictures from last night:

There are more photos on our Flickr page.

What's your story? The library wants to know. If you're a writer - of fiction or non-fiction, any age - get writing now so you're ready for our Writing Contest this winter. We'll have submission details by February. In the meantime, you should stop by and read our published volume of last year's entries, which we now have available in the Montana collection.

How do you find the motivation to write? Are there any exercises that inspire you? Share with us by posting a comment today!

Hi-Tech Writing Tips

Fresh on the heels of our writing contest (stay tuned to this blog for the winning entries in each category), I thought I'd share some tips on writing with all the aspiring writers out there. We need you to get going, so we can add your books to our collection when they're finished!

It's common knowledge that one of the best ways to get better at writing is to read. And read. And read. Well, we've always been here for you in that regard and always will be, but here are some writing tips for the digital age.

1. Start a Blog!

Practice makes perfect, and a blog is a great place to practice. You can set one up in minutes using free services such as Blogger or Wordpress. Take time to practice writing every day. Think of your blog as an artist's sketchbook. While you're writing, you'll have the opportunity to receive feedback and also build up a fan base/support group.

This method works particularly well if you're writing a non-fiction book. While writing your daily posts you end up doing all the research for your book and more. Some blogs even outlive the book they're written about, like Wikinomics and Freakonomics.

2. Subscribe to Writing Blogs

In addition to writing a blog, read them. There are lots of blogs out there to give you tips on how to craft a sentence or plot. Use a feed reader to read them all without having to use bookmarks or remember all their web addresses. Some recommendations?

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
http://prowritingtips.com/
http://writing.lifetips.com/

3. Use New Software to your Advantage

Dark Room - a free program that keeps your computer distraction free while you're working. Simple interface and you're not bothered by a constant stream of emails.

Perl Tagcloud Script - prepare to get geeky. This is a perl script that looks through a text file and creates a tagcloud of the hashtags. If you're doing a lot of research, this could be very useful. Props to Cory Doctorow for asking for this script and Dan McDonald for creating it.

Freemind - an open source mind mapping program. You can use this to make flowcharts and other diagrams to organize your the ideas whizzing around in your head.

Flahbake - another tool from the mind of Cory Doctorow. Flashbake keeps a log of changes to your work every 15 minutes along with tons of other metadata. This is for the archivists in training who want to know what songs you were listening to while you were writing your last novel. Be careful though, this one isn't for the faint of heart, and might take a lot of work to get working correctly. Be warned.

4. Publish Yourself!

The Internet allows you to publish your book without a publisher if you want. It might not make you famous, but at least you'll be able to get a copy for yourself and your friends, and maybe someday sell a few copies. Who knows, if your blog really caught on, maybe you will sell a bunch of copies and get rich. Just don't forget about my cut. Lulu.com is the definitive name in self publishing, but you could also try Xlibris or one of the countless other print on demand options. Take a look at this article before you take the plunge.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start writing!