Short list this week due to some technical difficulties!
It’s time for this week’s edition of prizes for writers. There are some great contests to enter this week, so check them out.
If you entered all of the contests last week, the old listings are marked with an asterisk so you can avoid entering them again.
Just to be clear, you can’t enter any of these contests here (unless otherwise specified). You have to visit the blog sponsoring the contest or giveaway and follow their directions. I’ve screened out anything that is a sweepstakes with millions of entries or looks like a scam, …read more

Yesterday was Blog Action Day; the subject was poverty. One of our commenters, Nicole LaMarco, who blogs at Your Writing Career also blogs at Loving Liberty. Her entry there yesterday was called: 20,000 People Died Yesterday.
When I read that entry I realize I’ve never been hungry and probably won’t ever be no matter what I might say if my lunch is delayed.
Like Nicole I regularly donate stuff I don’t use. Sometimes I do it formally, like to Goodwill, sometimes I put it on the street where it’s always picked up by people who can use it.
And as she suggests, we …read more

Yesterday I posted a video about Blog Action Day. If you missed it, it’s worth a look.
Today is the day. I work to make the goal of a world that works for everyone (the vision of The United Church of Religious Science). Part of what I’ve learned is that I haven’t got a clue about how to end poverty or create a world that works for everyone. Instead, I now ask “how can I help?” and then try to listen closely.
I contribute to Heifer because they listen and they do more than just give. They work to help the …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Seth Godin has a wonderful post called Is effort a myth?. (Thanks to Your Book Publishing Coach for the pointer.)
It’s a wonderful and helpful essay, complete with the suggestion to find 120 minutes each day and commit to something positive. He lists a number of things that can be done with that time, plus makes some other suggestions I like.
If I had to choose just one it would be: Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly. In fact, I’m going to do that and so commit to you, …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
When a potential client comes to your website (if you don’t have a website see You’re a Writer – You Need a Website!) nothing is more reassuring than a few testimonials, provided they are genuine. Ideally they will be accompanied by a picture of the person endorsing your writing. I’ll admit I haven’t gotten pictures, but my websites do have a few testimonials and I know they help would-be customers make up their mind to contact me.
The way I get the testimonial is two-fold:

First, I simply ask. I usually do this toward the end of the a project, often …read more

A client recently asked if I could put more emotion into a piece of writing. The topic is a fairly dry one and he couldn’t give me any examples. That’s often the case. The client feels something is missing or not quite right with a piece of writing and literally can’t tell you how they’d like it to be – just that they want it “better.”
Chances are, if you read the piece in question when you’ve got some distance from it, you’ll realize you can make it better without too much effort. In this case, I opened with a fairly …read more

b5media’s list of blogs grows so fast that I often miss something that might be of interest to you. This morning I stumbled into One Book Two Book, a blog about books for kids of all ages.
Turns out it’s only a few days old, meaning none of us are too far behind. If books for kids are of interest you’ll probably want to subscribe to this blog.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu

It’s Thursday and that means it’s open comment night right here at The Golden Pencil.
It’s simple, right around 6 o’clock in the evening – and that’s Pacific Time – I’ll post a post titled something like “Open Comments Starts Now.”
I might propose a topic or wait for someone to ask a question. It’s a great time to get questions answered or just to mutter. All you have to do is post a comment in the comment section and we’re off.
It’s fun, often informative and a productive way to spend an hour on a Thursday.
See you then.
Write well and …read more

Open mic comments tonight!
At 6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time – just about two hours from NOW.
Come join the fun.
See you then,

Chris Garrett, who blogs about writing, new media and blogging has an interesting post today called: Writing Lessons from Obama and Hilary
Born in Canada and living in the UK, his take on our campaign is interesting and worthwhile. He makes the statement, “Attacks and Negativity Damage All,” then follows with comments that reflect what people say about negative and attack ads. Most of us will recognize ourselves in at least some of the comments.
From there he moves to discussing what he looks for – someone with solutions, then shows how important writing is in determining just how a political campaign, …read more