I am not this kind of writer.

My handwriting is terrible and within minutes of any form of steady writing my hands ache. Minutes after that the carpal tunnel from the years spent writing computer software makes my wrists ache. The idea of using a pen or pencil to produce a 100,000 word novel is to me as herculean a task as building the pyramids without the aid of diesel-powered construction equipment and laser-accurate measuring devices.

Ever since the iPad first came out I have wanted so badly to be able to use it as a writing device. Not as my main editing platform but more as the device that is virtually always with me whenever a great line of dialogue or an intriguing scene strikes me and begs to be given form. Up until recently, this has been impossible because writing using the on-screen keyboard is nearly as much of a pain in the butt due to typos as using a pencil.

Now I have an iPad2. In addition, I have a “Book book” iPad case. I love this thing on so many levels, but my favorite part is that my iPad case looks like an old book, an icon for which I hold a tremendous amount of reverence. The other thing I have is a fairly small wireless keyboard.

For the past few days I have noticed that when I feel the urge the write, the typical counter-urge to stay on my ass and do nothing is not as strong because it takes so little effort to just pull out the iPad, turn on the wireless keyboard, and start typing.

The software I use on the iPad for writing is iA Writer. I use this software specifically for something that it calls focus mode, where everything but the current paragraph is grayed out and there is nothing on the screen but my words. Nothing. No distractions, no blips from IMs or e-mails and most importantly for me, no temptation to fire up a code editor and start doing something technical.

This software also has iCloud support so that when I’m done spewing stream-of-consciousness raw prose into the iPad, I can take it over to my Mac, put it in my desktop writing application, and refine it later when I am in that mode. One thing that I’ve noticed is that I have very different needs and desires in terms of the way software looks and behaves when I’m creating something new versus when I’m editing and revising.

If you’ve been resisting the idea of writing on your iPad, then you might want to try again with this combination of software and hardware as I’ve found it very comfortable and easy to use. If you have your own favorite software/hardware for using the iPad as a writing tool, I’d love to hear about it.

Also when I was young, I was really into writing stories. I wrote stories on my mother’s old blue Smith Corona type writer until she couldn’t stand the sound of the hammers smashing anymore and had to confiscate the thing. I went to summer school just so I could take the creative writing classes. When I got to college, my first year there I took creative writing, introduction to science fiction, greek mythology, and philosophy. Doesn’t sound like the kind of stuff a computer science major would be taking, does it? Sure, I also took Physics and Calculus and Linear Algebra and Discrete Math and a bunch of computer programming classes. I even ended up as a TA/exam proctor for a lower level computer science class.

As far back as I can remember, everyone expected me to go into computers. They certainly had good reason, I can say without ego that I’m incredibly good at what I do, among the best. I have presented at programming conferences, user groups, and written and co-written 14+ books on computer programming, some of which have ended up as dog-eared bibles on the desks of developers. Over the past 10 years, I have made it my goal to be among the top computer programmers in the world. So what’s the problem then? Why blog about this? The problem is that I have never been truly satisfied at any “day job” that I have ever had. Sure, there have been really great jobs, but even then those began to seem unsatisfying. I used to think it was because the job was getting boring (and sometimes it was).  But now I realize that there was a deeper cause to my unhappiness at work.

I didn’t want to work in a cubicle building stuffy, boring computer software all day long. Especially when it felt like there wasn’t a single creative step in the process of building this software. I wanted-needed- to build, create, let my mind free and imagine worlds and people and events that stimulated my imagination. The most fun I’ve ever had programming was when I was building MUDs (Multi User Dungeons/Dimensions) – big, expansive, text-based worlds that let players roam around and solve puzzles, complete quests, and kill things in classic “infocom” style. I got to use the creative and analytical sides of my brain at the same time.

This past October, I decided that I’d had enough. I was done being a computer programmer. I made the mental switch to believe in the old adage that I am not my job. I forced myself to admit that I was a writer and that I was merely paying the bills with my job as a computer programmer. I was no longer a programmer, but instead a writer who knows how to write computer software. It was amazing what a difference that simple change in perspective made on my life. I have been “present” more in my life in the past few months than I have in the past few years. Not only that, but I’ve got a short story coming out in a published anthology soon, I’m writing a few more stories for other anthologies, and I’m finally moving forward on my fantasy novel with real, measurable progress. It’s amazing what a difference a little change in perspective and priority can make.

Part of me mourns the loss of my previous identity. Part of me feels guilty every time I choose to ignore some blog post about a new piece of software. Part of me feels the tug of stress and anxiety when a new development tool or platform comes out. The old me, the one obsessed with being one of the best coders on the planet, would rush off and absorb this new technology to the exclusion of all else – family, friends, responsibilities, hygiene. Now, I feel the tug and am aware of the call but I don’t answer it. I have decided that I don’t need to obsess about my career as a software architect. I have decided that because I just don’t obsess anymore. I will still bust my ass for my employer and give them 100%, I just won’t spend my nights and weekends obsessing about every new thing that comes along.

I now know what makes me happy. I know what I need. I know who I am.

I am a writer, for all the good and bad that entails.

Have you ever been in the middle of the line at the grocery store and all of a sudden that plot device that gets your characters from point A to point B that’s been eluding you for weeks hits you like a ton of bricks? You promise that you’ll remember it but by the time you negotiate traffic to get all the way home, the magic cure-all solution to all your plot problems has vanished as quickly as it arrived.

Have you ever been at work and had this fantastic idea for a scene for your book and you wrote it down in a Word document at the office but forgot to put it on a flash drive to bring it home? Or worse, you resorted to emailing yourself ideas from your work email to your home email and your home mailbox is positively littered with subjects like “Dude, you need to remember this” or “IDEA!” ?

If this describes your life, then EverNote can fix your problems. When you’re done with this blog post, head to this link for a complete set of videos showing you the incredible power of this tool. EverNote has a web interface for viewing and creating notes, but its true power lies in its ability to synchronize notes you create from anywhere. You can create new notes from your iPhone, from your Windows machine, from your Mac, from the web, from a mobile phone that has web access. Every time you create a note it synchronizes that note and the next time you connect any of your EverNote devices, they’ll get the notes you created. This makes it so that you will never lose an inspiring thought ever again. EverNote lets you record a voice note which is great for dictating some narrative that is just too painful to write on an iPhone or mobile phone keyboard. You can also take snapshots and upload existing pictures from iPhones or any of your computers.

Based on the volume of notes that I create, most writers can probably get by using the free EverNote account. If you want to allow other people to share your notebooks, edit/contribute to shared notes, or you want to be able to upload larger attachments then you can pay $4/month or $45/year.

Bottom line is that ever since I started using EverNote, I haven’t lost a single middle-of-the-night inspiration or awesome location inspiration picture or great new grocery-store-express-lane book idea. I highly recommend that any writer take a look at this tool. It is absolutely, hands-down, the most important writing tool I have after my brain and my computer.