Archive for February, 2008
Any writers out there in Las Vegas? Do you ever write in a casino?
I realize the title of this post seems a bit odd, but I have a reason for the question. I’ll explain.
In addition to blogging and other tortuous forms of life — I mean writing — I also spend a lot of my time trying to succeed at affiliate marketing. I’ve discussed all that before, so […]
Question for you historical writers out there: What’s your favorite period of history?
When I began trying to write novels some years ago now (too many years ago now), I thought I would really like to write “Westerns.” Or, as they are often called now, “historical novels set in the West.” I’m not sure why this genre appeals to me, except that I grew up in the 1950s […]
If you write ad copy, you must learn the importance of ‘pre-selling’
Writing ad copy often involves “pre-selling” rather than selling a product. Pre-selling means prompting the person your ad is aimed at to take additional action: You get them to make a phone call, to send in a coupon, to go to a website, etc.
Let’s look for a moment at a life insurance ad that runs […]
I decided to change the look of things again — what do you think?
The thing about writing and running a regular blog is it keeps you as busy as an insurance adjuster handing out life insurance policies at an undertaker’s convention. You not only need to write a lot, you need to have a bit of the graphics artist and designer in you. You always have plenty to […]
Learning how to schedule your time as a writer — daily deadlines
Everyone reading this who has NOT mastered the techniques of scheduling, daily “to-do” lists, time management, etc., RAISE YOUR HANDS HIGH.
Yeah, that’s my chubby little paw sticking up right there in the front row.
I’m going to assume that you naturally went to Suzanne Lieurance’s website, The Working Writer’s Coach, after she was a “guest blogger” […]
Is it possible that I’m the last person alive to hear of this best-selling author?
I hope that title caught your attention. I just discovered a wonderful writer. It happened last week when I was browsing around the “New Fiction” section at the nearest branch of our public library system and caught sight of the name “Terry Pratchett.”
Long story short — I left the library half an hour later with […]
I may be in love with ‘Lulu’ — self-publishing center Lulu.com that is
Sometimes I’m amazed at what writing resources there are on the Internet which I’ve not yet found. Today I just found another which I think is a good one — Lulu.com. I’ve spent the last half hour looking around, and as close as I can figure, it’s a very reasonable self-publishing center. The membership to […]
What’s your ‘fog index’ — and how does that matter in your writing?
I haven’t heard or used the term “fog index” in a number of years. I don’t know whether editors, writing coaches, teachers, or others use the feature anymore or not.
When I first started writing professionally about 190 years ago — okay, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration — my first editor introduced me to […]
Guest post by Suzanne Lieurance: ‘ “Show Don’t Tell” — What Does That Really Mean?’
Let’s hear a round of applause out there, good readers, to welcome our guest writer for today — Suzanne Lieurance. Suzanne commented on a recent post here regarding deadlines and she and I struck up an online conversation. Suzanne is an accomplished writer and writing coach. I encourage you to check out her website, The […]
Where do you shop most often when you buy books? How often do you buy books?
I know the question in the title of my post isn’t really that on-topic for writing and writing tips, but I know also that part of what I do at this blog is discuss general issues related to writing.
So where do you shop most often when you buy books? Is there a favorite local bookstore […]
Formerly striking writers learning again the joys of deadlines
I’m sure all of the Hollywood and television writers are happy their strike ended and they’re able to get back to work. I’m equally sure many of them continued to write, even doing treatments and notes on their own during the strike for projects they can plug right in. But it was interesting to read […]
Need a new webhost? Check on this offer before it ends
The Top Hosting Center website (otherwise known as THC) has a limited time webhosting offer right now that you ought to take a look at if you have a website or a blog — or if you plan on having a website or blog. It may be one of the best hosting offers I’ve seen […]
Two days later — now Google knocked this blog’s PR down
Well, it’s hard to see how such things work in the Mind of Google, but may Google’s will be done.
Just two days ago I mentioned the frustrations related to Internet writing and discussed the “Google slap” given to one of my blogs which knocked it down in page rank (PR) first from PR 2 to […]
Take a look at this website — they have a special auction coming
If you want to see some truly beautiful architecture, go to this website for a company that is one of the few nationwide which specializes in building conservatories. The site is Tanglewood Conservatories, and they build absolutely stunning conservatories. “Build” almost seems inadequate for what they do. “Craft from fine woods and state of the […]
All you fiction writers — here’s a website you should go to right away
Okay, I’ll admit up front that I have no personal knowledge of this author or his teaching material. But he sounds good and the website looks good. I just did a “Google” on Randy Ingermanson and everything I found looks 1) very useful, and, 2) just really good.
The site I’m talking about is “AdvancedFictionWriting.com,” and […]
