President Obama is leaving for vacation, and the white house released a list of the books he checked out to take with him. Here’s his summer reading list:

The Way Home by George Pelecanos
Lush Life by Richard Price
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman
John Adams by David McCullough
Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Obviously, having the president pick up your book is a major publicity boost. I’m sure that these publishers are jumping up and down with excitement.
Now, I’m guessing that Obama doesn’t get a ton of time to read, which is unfortunate. Hell, I barely have time for pleasure reading, and my job …read more

Not every character in every book has a name, and that’s ok. The majority of your characters, however, need a name. That can be one of the hardest parts of writing fiction. I’ve easily spent over an hour trying to come up with the perfect name for a character. And don’t even get me started on surnames (last names) and pets names!
Something that has helped me save at least a little time: creating a character list. I actually have mine in an Excell spreadsheet, but when I was in high school, I had an old recipe box and a box …read more

Rix Quinn, humorist and columnist has this truncated video about improving your writing. It’s worth the just over a minute to watch and listen to.

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

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Presented by the Romance Writers of America presents a short lecture by Polly Guerin, a well-known fashion writer who has also published two books on the subject, on the subject of writing magazine articles. Worth a listen.
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.

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Hah! Don’t you love it when you find someone who agrees with you? Here’s a video about writer’s block that really rings true for me.

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.

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Can you find yourself here? If not, you can at least take heart at the wide variety of working methods. Enjoy!

View more Videos for Writers.
Write well and often,
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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.

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Sort of a PowerPoint presentation, but a darn good collection of quotes about writing by writers:

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.

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Dale Beaumont, creator of SecretsExposedClub.com – a bit of hype and the video stops before it’s over, but there are enough decent hints about getting a book written to make it worthwhile.

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

Who can resist Ray Bradbury on writing… I certainly can’t. This video is short, and gets chopped off at the end. But, imo, it’s more than worth it. There are more Bradbury videos there to chase if you like.

Write well and often, and enjoy the heck out of it – I do.

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

Hmmmm maybe the series of questions she asks at the beginning will help me sort out my rather horrid plots.

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