In this information-savvy world, research seems easy at first. Simply find a search engine like Google and type in the topic of your choice and bingo, hundreds and thousands of websites about your chosen topic.

There’s one major problem with restricting your research to the internet. You can’t always be sure that the information is factual, accurate or correct.

Why? The internet is simply too easy. It’s easy for anyone to publish just about anything they like (yes, I accept the irony in that statement).

People present their personal opinions as if they are established facts, proven by scientific methods. There are no controls on who is posting what and much of what you find is repetitive, urban myths that cannot be proved. Research on the internet can be helpful in some instances for writers but should not be the only method relied on.

Many times the internet can give you a starting point for your research. If you read an article on a website that’s interesting, look at the resources pages of the website or the references to the article if it has some. Professional documents and research papers usually have a list of references at the end of the document, showing the resources used, and where the information came from. It’s better to go back to the original source of information for more accurate research, where you can.

Question: What did writers do before the advent of the World Wide Web?

Answer: They still researched their writing and were very sure of their facts before writing. Books, newspapers and interviews with witnesses are the key resources journalists will use to assemble their information and facts. Cross checking information found on the internet with reliable outside sources can help identify facts from opinion.

Libraries aren’t past their used date

Libraries are a terrific resource for writers. Not only are millions of books and reference materials that have been checked and have reliable sources available to borrow, but many libraries act as archives and have newspapers stored on microfiche - old fashioned but effective.

If you are researching anything that happened in modern history, or are looking for information on trends and comparative trends between generations, this is an excellent place to start.

Libraries also offer access to research papers completed by professors, scientists and researchers all over the world. Reading the report straight from the original researcher is the best source of information. If you want to write about cures for cancer for example, reading the medical journals is a great place to start. Then when you find an article about a particular scientist’s research, you will be able to find the original report generated by the scientist on their research results.

If you do want to search on the internet, try accessing university websites. Universities often publish research papers in a variety of fields and usually provide good reference lists for each paper. These lists can be great resources, as can the papers themselves. University publications and formal research papers have more credibility than unnamed opinion found on any website.

Universities also publish lists of required reading for students studying in particular subjects. These textbooks can be terrific resources. Browsing through a university bookshop can be a good way to generate ideas for writing.

Finding an expert in the field of interest and interviewing them is also a great way of researching for your writing. Sometimes websites can lead you to experts in the field and even provide contact points to make contact with these people. This may take more time to set up but will provide better in-depth research than simply using search engines on the internet.

Recognized sites for factual information include Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia. These can be helpful sites in accessing definitions and starting your research. Any writer should also use dictionaries, thesaurus and other word compilations that will increase vocabulary and ensure your writing is interesting for the reader.

These resources will help you to make sure your research is accurate and your writing contains facts, interest and original ideas.

And another big bonus of the library? It gets you out of the office and somewhere different for a while. That’s a great way to keep you being and feeling creative.

In my last post I wrote about three great places to find ideas when you’re looking for some great topics to write about. Here are some more you will find useful.

Don’t let a poster or billboard go unread

Whenever you see a poster or billboard when you are walking along, take a second look at it. Visuals are often great for getting the mind working. Often there can be subtle messages in visual posters and pictures that many people do not see, but the artist has put in there for a reason. Look beneath the words to see the graphic design and then let your mind wander. It is amazing how often this generates ideas for writing.

Keep a journal

Creative writers can also keep a journal of interesting conversations, snippets and ideas. If you keep a small notepad handy, you can jot down ideas wherever you are when they hit you. Then, whenever you are sitting in front of the computer having a mental block, get out your journal or notebook and flick through it to remember your great ideas.

Keep a picture folder

Cutting out interesting pictures from magazines and newspapers can also help to generate ideas. Some creative writers will keep a picture folder as well as an idea folder. Select several pictures and see if they go together to form a story.

Cartoonists use a story board to shape their stories and their cartoons. This technique can also be used by the writers to help them visualize what they are writing about. Sometimes it helps to see what the next part of the story is before you write it.

Sometimes doing an internet search for pictures or images on the topic you are writing about is a great way to get over a mental block. The images and visual references can help get your mind working again. Google has a lot of images available and is a good resource for creative writers to use.

And finally…

Whenever you get a mental block, don’t stress. Get out the ideas folder and sift through it. Idea generation is a technique that is often learned. Try brainstorming, matching pictures, book titles or posters together to form story ideas. Assemble some resources that you can go back to whenever you need fresh ideas.

Today we’re continuing on with the R=Resources and support systems theme from CREATIVE HABITS. In fact there’s so much I want to talk to you about that I’ll be continuing to posting on this topic over the next week or so.

Creative infopreneurs and writers always need ideas and sometimes it can be quite difficult to keep generating ideas. So, where do successful creative infopreneurs get their ideas from?

Well, I have to tell you - there is no one single answer. I know, it would be fantastic if there was! Instead, creative writers will gather ideas from many sources and use a variety of resources for their idea generation.

Keep an ideas folder

Many infopreneurs and writers will keep some kind of idea folder. This is where they will put any ideas that come their way. You may not have time to write about the ideas straight away, but whenever you have a mental block and can’t think of anything to write, going through your ideas folder is a great way of getting the brain energized and thinking again.

Ideas can come from magazines and newspapers. Good creative writers are usually fairly voracious readers too. If you find an article that interests you and generates ideas on other things you could write about, cut it out and stick it into your ideas folder.

Visit your local library

You may like to take notes on ideas that come to mind when reading for pleasure or from book titles. Sometimes just browsing through a library and selecting titles at random can give you ideas. Try the game of putting two book titles together and see if that generates a new idea of what to write about.

While you are visiting the public library, check out the community notice board too. These notices are put up by the public about anything that interests them. If someone out there is interested in it, you may be too, or so could your prospective audience.

Go where the people are

Journalists use a technique for idea generation called the ‘pub-barometor’. If people are talking about something in the pub, café, church or any other social group gathering, it must be important and is therefore news. When you go out in large group situations, chat to as many people as possible. You just never know when someone will give you a great idea. You may also just sit and listen to conversations held in public places as these can also generate ideas.

These are just a few ideas on where to get ideas. Make sure you read my next post when I’ll share some more ideas on where to get ideas.

R = Resources and support systems

Being a creative infopreneur and writer has its share of frustrations and times when you just want to pull your hair out. Sometimes one of the biggest problems creative writers can face is the feeling of being alone, with no-one supporting you. Most writers will work from home and mightn’t have the support of a network in an office environment, like the majority of workers.

It’s extremely frustrating to know you are on a deadline for a client (and that client can be you!) and yet you have a ment

al blank and can’t seem to get the words out onto the computer screen.

Every successful creative writer will also experience days like this.

However, the most successful writers will also know the resources to utilize when things get tough. Here is a list of the best three types of support resources writers can have.

Website Forum

One of the best resources for writers to combat feeling alone is to join a website forum devoted to writers and infopreneurs. Whenever you feel alone or frustrated, you can contact others who will understand, and may even be able to offer some advice to help you over the hard times.

Even reading over some of the other forum comments will help you to realize that you are not alone in the industry. You are not the only writer to experience mental blocks and to sit staring at a blank computer screen willing words to come.

Coach or Mentor

A coach or a mentor is more common in business, but writers can use this kind of resource too. There are two types of mentors. One is the mentor who is from another industry but who can give you support and great advice about what you are working on.

Sometimes book publishers will act as mentors to their writers for example. A book publisher is not a writer and will often have a different perspective on writing than a creative author, however, sometimes this different perspective can really help. Other sources of mentors are business trainers and personal coaches who support and encourage the writer in making wise business decisions and in their personal lives to get their minds in the right place to write successfully.

The second type of mentor is someone else who is in the same industry, for example another creative writer. You need to find someone who is successful and who has rather more experience than yourself. An editor may act as a mentor for a creative writer, and will give the writer support, encouragement and help in editing and making the writing itself better.

So, how do you find a mentor? You need to network as a writer to find someone you feel comfortable with. Many community groups have small business networks and this can be a great place to start to find a mentor outside of the writing industry. This can be especially important if you are running your business from home.

Chatting with other authors on internet forums may lead to building a mentoring relationship. Attending workshops, writer’s festivals and other key networking functions in the industry is a great way of making contacts with other authors and people with an interest in the creative writing industry.

Writing Magazines and Websites

There are a number of great magazines and websites that are aimed at those in the creative writing industry. You may find that simply doing a search on “writing tips” through the internet search engines such as Google will give you leads and pointers to websites devoted to writers. Often the articles in these types of magazines and websites address the problems that creative writers can face and will offer various tips and ways of overcoming the common writer obstacles.

The most important thing for a writer who is experiencing frustration is to realize you are not the only one who has ever felt this way. Utilizing these support structures will enable you to get the encouragement, fresh perspective and help you need to get back to writing successfully.

Since my last post I’ve been trying to work out what to write. I knew what I wanted to write about - Creative Confidence. The ‘C’ in Creative Habits.

But how do you talk about creative confidence when that confidence seems to have deserted you?

I felt hypocritical talking about being confident in creative ability when I couldn’t think of anything to say. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to say, I just couldn’t write it. Does that sound strange?

Of late, I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about creativity. And whilst mulling over what to write, it dawned on me. I was in information overload.

I was also looking for the perfect topic and words. Talk about not taking my own advice (see my thoughts in perfection paralysis).

There and then I decided to get over my crisis of confidence (and myself). How did I get over the speed bump in front of me?

I decided to write about my crises, to get it off my chest. And do you know what? Once I started writing, once I put pen to paper, it just all came blurting out.

Here I was making it up as I went along and it felt great!!

My handwriting’s not the best, in fact it’s pretty awful, but who cares. It’s not the point.

I’ve just written my way out of feeling unconfident (new word??), of being able to write about creativity. And I think what I’m doing is pretty creative because it solved the problem.

This is my creativity confidence booster. This is my way of getting over the writing slump. Of the feeling I had backed myself into a corner by declaring what I was going to write about on this blog - the meaning behind Creative Habits.

So I tell myself…

I am confident in my creativity

I am confident in my ability to produce.

.

Crisis over.. confidence back.