How about a nice vacation home in Florida? Here’s a site for that
I was watching out of one eye this morning as the “Today Show” played on the old television while I was getting up and around. Al Roker, their intrepid weather guy who’s one of my favorites, was in Orlando getting ready to help kick off a new rollercoaster type ride at the big movie theme park there. (I think we know which theme park that was, don’t we? No, it was the other one.)
If you’re in Florida, or you’d like to be in Florida, the Bardell Real Estate people have a nice vacation villa for sale they’d be happy to show you. They specialize in vacation property in and near Orlando, home of some of the neatest (Sea World?) and biggest (Disney World?) vacation destinations in the state. (Okay, I’ll give it away — Roker and gang were at the Universal Studios theme park.)
According to what I read, Bardell Real Estate can also provide you with “the most comprehensive information on Florida airport homes and Florida residential airparks, airports and aviation communities throughout Florida.” I’m not exactly sure what that means, but the terms “airport” and “airpark” linked to homes gets my attention. Sounds like great fun — and if you’re in Florida or would like to be in Florida, this is a fun site for you to look around. Go see for yourself.
Technorati Tags: Florida vacation homes, villa for sale, Orlando real estate, useful website, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Got that Lamott book from the library — I’ll give you a review when I’ve read it
I mentioned a day or two ago (who keeps track of the time??) that I was on the library’s waiting list for Anne Lamott’s newest book about spirituality and faith, “Grace (eventually),” and that I expected to get it in a week or so.
I was wrong. The good folks at the library came through today.
Unfortunately, I’ve got three or four other books I must read first, but I hope I’ll have it done and collect my thoughts enough to write a few paragraphs telling you about it. Stay tuned.
Technorati Tags: Anne Lamott, Grace (eventually), book about spirituality and faith
For those of you with blogs or websites — do you know a good polling script?
I know that many of you blog or host your own websites to which you add regular content. Many of you, I’m sure, have various scripts or software on your site that allows you to poll your customers about an issue.
Forum software, I’m sure, allows this pretty easily. But I don’t run a forum here, I run WordPress blogging software. I’ve searched around the Internet several times and not found anything really easy and practical to use to put up a poll that you, my visitors, can respond to.
Consider this my cry for help — any of you have a website script, WordPress plugin, or something very easy to use and very free that will do what I’m looking for?
Drop me a comment to this post or send me a message through the “Contact Us” page, will you please? I thank you in advance for your help.
Technorati Tags: polling software, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Trying direct marketing? Here’s a useful site about mailing list brokers
Have you ever needed a list broker? Perhaps you aren’t familiar with mailing lists and those who use them, but here’s a useful website, put up by the Direct Contact Marketing Group, explaining what list brokers do and how your business or freelance writing career might benefit from lists and the services of list brokers.
I’ve done a few direct mail campaigns for some marketing endeavors in the past, and on one occasion did some direct mail using a list broker. The results were not spectacular, but I only tried once.
Go to the site and look around. It’s very informative and there are links at the bottom of the page if you wish to pursue the matter and find some lists related to your needs.
Technorati Tags: list brokers, Direct Contact Marketing Group, mailing lists, writing tips at garyspeer.com
‘Speed writing’ may be the tip you need if you’re fighting writer’s block
Here’s another of those simple, basic writing tips you may already know — or you may be overlooking. I hope it’s helpful. In a word: Speed writing.
Okay, I cheated. That’s two words, but it’s a simple and effective way to start a writing session anytime you simply can’t get the words flowing and get started any other way. It’s a technique that’s pretty much self-descriptive.
Speed writing means sitting down at your keyboard and letting the words flow without purpose, without forcing words or thoughts. You’re simply trying to put down everything that comes to mind as quickly as you possibly can. It’s sort of a combined typing race and free-association exercise.
One writing coach of mine suggested setting a timer of some sort to 10 minutes, flipping the timer, then pounding away until the timer dings (chirps, warbles, rings, clicks, bangs, whatever).
If you’ve never tried this, you’ll be amazed at some of the stuff that might come out of your head, travel through the old finger tips, and end up in your computer. Good, bad, and indifferent — you’ll find yourself spilling it all.
And if you’re writing fiction, a nice benefit is that you might trip a switch in the old brain that’ll give you a new perspective on your story, a new story idea, a new character, whatever. The possibilities are pretty much limitless. Give it a shot.
Technorati Tags: speed writing, breaking writer’s block, writing exercises, advice for new writers, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Speaking of copy writing — I’ve always found putting new ’spins’ on old products a tough job
I’ve only had one “professional” copy writing job in my writing career, and that was many years ago. But I do copy writing almost daily for much of the content on my various affiliate marketing websites. I’m sure many of you reading this are professional copy writers and/or find yourself also writing website copy that involves advertising.
So my question here would be this: What sort of copy writing job(s) do you find hardest to do well? Or do you find anything hard to do well? I mean, seriously, I’ve known some copy writers who just have such a knack for the task that they can write good ad copy just about faster than I can sign my name.
Here’s an example of the toughest copy writing I ever face — finding a new or unique way to “spin” an old or well-known type of product. What would I write, for instance, if I were trying to make someone click a link on one of my affiliate marketing websites for an acne treatment product? Even if the product itself is something new, even if it’s genuinely “revolutionary,” what can I write to persuade people? I mean, I’m 60 years old and I know I’ve seen an endless stream of new and “revolutionary” acne treatment products since my pre-teen years.
Overcoming ad saturation would be the biggest challenge, I think, for professional copy writers. But what do you professional copy writers out there think about it? Tell us, please.
Technorati Tags: copy writing, acne treatment, writing challenges, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Odd brand name? Unusual jargon? Obscure ‘bureaucratize’? Somewhere a writer is responsible
Writers can work magic. Or, sometimes, they just write down words and the magic doesn’t come. In most cases, technical writers and/or copy writers get stuck with the “non-magic” sorts of words.
For example, copy writers forced to come up with names for pharmaceuticals and diet supplements rarely create magic. Let’s face it, the word “Orovo” doesn’t trip charmingly off the tongue, doesn’t conjure images of beautiful and faraway places, and really doesn’t tell you anything. (It’s a brand name for a whole line of dietary/nutritional supplements.) Likewise, brand names like “Lunesta,” “Lipitor,” and “Zocor” by themselves mean nothing — unless you’ve seen the endless, expensive television commercials for that particular pharmaceuticals and happen to use them.
Technical writers have an even tougher, “non-magical” row of words to hoe. Most technical writers never create terms or brand names, they generally get stuck writing step-by-step manuals and “how-tos” implementing equipment and procedures other people have created.
And can you imagine the stress government writers must face, coming up with the jargon and bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that keeps state and federal agencies up and running? What a job that must be!
Enjoy your writing today. Write fiction that soars, poetry that makes us laugh and cry, or simple “how-tos” that help us all boot up our computers and use your software.
Technorati Tags: writing tasks, jargon, bureaucratic jargon, ad copy writing, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Any of you read Anne Lamott’s newest book yet?
I love Anne Lamott’s writing about writing. I thoroughly enjoy her writing about religion and personal faith, too. Her latest book, “Grace (eventually): Thoughts on Faith,” is about religion and her personal faith.
If you’ve read ANYTHING by Anne Lamott, you know calling her “unconventional” is a major understatement. She’s definitely someone who has lived, thought, and written always outside the cliched box. Her semi-biographical look at writing and the writing process, “Bird by Bird,” is a true classic that every writer should own.
Any of you yet read her newest book, “Grace (eventually)”? I confess the old budget is tight right now and I haven’t been able to afford a copy myself. I do have it on hold through our local library system, and expect it to be coming in the next few days.
I would love to have anyone who’s read it contact me, leave a comment here, write a review of it I would publish here, whatever. As with her unconventional writing “wisdom,” her equally unconventional faith journey has been a real boost to me, personally, and would be worthwhile, I’m sure, for anyone out there seeking a relationship with God.
Technorati Tags: Anne Lamott, “Grace (eventually)”, thoughts on writing and religion, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Sports fans out there? Here’s a useful website for fans, sports writers, all sports people
Here’s a relatively new but growing website I found for all of us sports fans, with a fitting name — “AddictSports.com,” and a site slogan I love: “Get your daily dose!”.
I’ve been a sports fan most of my life, though I rarely predict game outcomes without my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. My lifelong passion has been professional football, going back to the legendary “Game of the Century” between the then-Balitmore Colts and the New York Giants in 1958. That game established Johnny Unitas’ reputation as a superstar and I was his devoted follower for life.
If you want to talk baseball, AddictSports.com is a good place to start. If you are in the mood already for the upcoming football season, you can probably find someone hanging around AddictSports.com to swap football picks and predictions with you.
You may or may not write about sports, but if you’re any sort of sports fan, you should go take a look around. Always fun to find some good sports forums.
Technorati Tags: AddictSports.com, football picks, sports forums, sports fans and fanatics
Regarding text editors — this is a favorite when not working online
Earlier today I posted my recommendation for WeBuilder 2008 text editing/writing software, discussing the easy way I could edit online, website text with it.
When I’m not working directly on a website online, I have a second text editor I use which I owned before I purchased WeBuilder 2008. That one is EditPad Pro, and you can find out more about EditPad Pro at this website.
It, too, is a tabbed editing/writing tool to create or edit plain text. I find the tabbed feature so useful that I get irritated with the lame, untabbed nature of Word many times when I’m doing word processing and “serious document” writing/editing.
Anyway, I highly recommend either EditPad Pro or WeBuilder 2008 — or both if you feel the need. In my case, I probably wouldn’t have both except I do a lot of online editing and WeBuilder 2008 handles that much more conveniently than EditPad Pro.
Technorati Tags: EditPad Pro, plain text writing/editing software, writing tips at garyspeer.com
‘If these pants could talk …’ makes a fun idea for a fun contest for writers
I’ve got a favorite pair of jeans that I’ve just about worn ragged, literally. Since I work from home, I spend a lot of time sitting around in them, strolling around the yard, going back and forth from my writing area to the kitchen for coffee, and occasionally doing some work around the house. I wonder what a “day in the life of my jeans” would sound like if those jeans could talk …
“Ouch. Here we go again. You’ve gotta get some of that weight off. You’re stretching my seams to the limit there, Big Guy. Maybe you should be walking more and sitting less? Not to mention the wear and tear on our back end, Fella.
“And we really need to talk about the waste button issue, don’t you think? Belts are made for extended notches, but jeans button holes aren’t, ya know what I mean, Pal?
“Probably we could both handle all this stress better if I were a nice pair of Dockers, don’t ya think??”
I don’t know what brand your favorite pants are, nor what they would tell you about their/your day if they could talk — but there’s a fun Dockers contest going on right now for those of you who do video. Go to that Dockers contest link to find out more about it and to submit YOUR video story about your pants as a possible Dockers commercial. The winning video will be shown on NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” according to their contest information.
Take a look around the site, think about your favorite pants, break out your video camera, and give it a try.
What’s your favorite writing software for text files?
Text editors are no big deal anymore for writers, are they? Most of the “serious” or finished writing I do is done in Word. I suspect most writers use Word, because so many editors require Word or Word-compatible files.
Yet often, especially when I’m working directly on a website, a good plain text editor is very useful. Do you have such a critter that you use? What is your favorite text editor?
Because most of my need for a text editor involves working on websites, I found one a few months ago that I actually paid money for, but it does many things the many free text editors won’t do.
The software I’m talking about is WeBuilder 2008. You can find it here, if you’re interested. (No, this isn’t an affiliate link. No I make nothing if you decide to buy it.) They offer a free full-feature 30 day trial, I believe.
The most useful part of this software, from my standpoint, is that I can connect to one of my websites via FTP through the software and edit files “live” online, saving changes as I make them. This makes it terrifically hand if I want to change the content on a web page, correct an error on a web page, etc.
And, it also lets me write plain text files quickly and easily offline. As with most text editing/writing software these days, it has a tabbed interface so I can keep many documents open at the same time.
That would be my favorite text editor. There are many others, depending on how simple or complex your needs are. Many good ones are free.
What text editing/writing software do you prefer? Tell us, please.
Technorati Tags: text editing, text editing software, writing tips at garyspeer.com
One person’s tools may be another’s ‘toys’ — how do you relax, recover from writing sessions?
One person’s tools may be another person’s toys, right? My wife loves to work in our large, somewhat overgrown backyard when she has some spare spring and summer moments — so I bought her a rechargeable electric week whacker for Mothers’ Day. Wasn’t that just special?
(For those of you who are concerned about how we celebrate Mothers’ Day in our household — our son, daughter, and son-in-law came over and put on a big pizza feed for all. Is that better?)
Sure, I could have bought something like candy, a nice dinner out with the family, a ring or necklace. But she really wanted the weed whacker, so that’s what I got. And, yes, she really has let me know she’d rather I not mess around with it. She prefers to do the yard work herself.
Hey, no arguments from me. Been years since I preferred a lawn mower to a keyboard. Okay, I’ve NEVER preferred a lawn mower to a keyboard.
Which brings me to the subject of this post — how do you unwind after hours of pounding your keyboard? Do you enjoy working in the yard or garden, perhaps? Spend a little time walking or jogging through your neighborhood? Or, like me, to you prefer moving from your keyboard directly to a cool drink and a power nap?
I’ve really got to get out more.
Technorati Tags: work and leisure, rest and recovery techniques for writers, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Amazing story of family of 19 — not really related to writing, just found it amazing
I’m sure you’ve heard of this truly amazing family in Arkansas with 17 kids, haven’t you? In fact, they were on the “Today Show” yesterday (Friday) with the revelation that child number 18 is expected on New Year’s Day. (Part of the humor in the announcement included Mother’s Day presents from the kids. Several of the daughters had gotten together and bought mom some clothes, explaining on camera that she was generally pregnant so much that she her wardrobe was almost entirely maternity clothes!)
The story of this family, the Duggar family of Tontitown, Arkansas, has been in the press a lot in the last few years. The dad, “Jim Bob” Duggar, apparently was a state legislator briefly and ran for other state offices in Arkansas. This whole thing has little or nothing to do with writing and writers, but I found it the sort of thing a good writer might and should take advantage of and dig into the Duggar family’s story. Perhaps there are books which have been done on them already and I’m just ignorant about them? I know they have a DiscoveryHealth Channel website.
Of course, the two most fundamental questions that come immediately to my mind are: 1) why all the kids, and, 2) how can they afford such a large family. A little research gave the easy answers to the question.
1. They are conservative Christians who are linked to something called the “Quiverfull” movement — the idea that children are gifts from the Lord and that ALL sorts of contraceptives and family planning methods, whether “natural” or otherwise, are to be avoided. If a woman gets pregnant it’s because she is trusting God to take care of that and he wants her pregnant, would pretty well sum up that approach, I guess.
2. Dad Duggar is a real estate agent and they own some commercial properties. They also credit a financial planning seminar they attended early in their marriage with helping them live completely debt free.
Amazing story, isn’t it? Perhaps it gives you some new ideas for your writing, perhaps not. But you’ve got to admit it’s fascinating. I encourage you to Google “Duggar family” and read more about them. (And I’ll try very, very hard not to vent my feelings here about their religious beliefs and things like “cults,” or “craziness.” I’ll try, really I will.)
Technorati Tags: Duggar family, writing ideas, writing tips at garyspeer.com
Repeating a writing tip I gave you some weeks ago: Make ‘wikipedia’ one of your regular online friends
I don’t have any great insight for you here. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that wikipedia.com is a very quick, easy, and useful writing resource.
I bring it up again today because I just realized I’ve consulted the site myself just today something like four times — and it’s only early afternoon here.
I find myself drawn to the ease of using it and the incredibly comprehensive nature of content. You can find almost anything in wikipedia. Just today, I’ve used it for quick references to “Leave It to Beaver” and Jerry Mathers, conservative religious leader Bill Gothard, an Arkansas family with 17 kids and another on the way, and some information about collectible action figures.
So keep wikipedia bookmarked and handy. It isn’t the most authoritative encyclopedia available, there are even regular challenges to its accuracy, so make sure you don’t take it for the “final word” on anything you’re writing for publication. But it sure is useful for little trivia tidbits and for story ideas.
Make wikipedia your online friend.
Technorati Tags: wikipedia, quick online reference material, useful websites, writing tips at garyspeer.com