The Copywriter Underground

George Orwell may be dust, but it appears Web 2.0 technology has improved to the point where even the dead can blog:
The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you [...]

Because I foolishly took a vacation, I’m now overwhelmed with Stuff to Write, and my workload is treating me the same way trains treat automobiles:

Because she’s a game sort who’s willing to share the pain, Roberta Rosenberg posts pretty much the same story of getaway-related overwork.
I won’t turn this post into a pine [...]

I’m beat.
My wife and I both worked a very, very long work week. And when it lands hard on both of us at once, neither can pick up the slack.
It’s not true, but the last few days, I feel like I’ve eaten nothing but cereal.

Does it look like I’ve been sleeping here? (It feels like [...]

Word processor geeks rejoice! Liquid Story Binder XE is writing software (Windows) designed for those who write, organize and publish larger writing projects (not blog posts).
For the rest of today (Friday, 7/18), you can download it free from the Giveaway of the Day site (normally $45).
If you download it, I’d love to hear what [...]

So far, my Ubuntu Linux experience has been amazingly trouble free. Installation was easy. DVDs are playing.
And - most importantly - the work is getting done.
I even like the new software. But lately, I’ve grounded on some shoals.
Deal breakers? Not yet. But not encouraging either. What’s going wrong?
Few Blog Editor Choices
I’ve lamented the lack of [...]

Business blogs aren’t exactly booming — at least according to Ken Magill in a Direct Magazine post, where he cites a Forrester report documenting rapid decline in business blog growth:
Business-to-business blogging took a nosedive this year, mainly because returns on corporate blogs haven’t matched investment, according to a recent report by Forrester Research.
…the number of [...]

The Writer’s Almanac tells us today is E.B. White’s birthday - an event worth a little celebration among the prose manufacturing set.
After all, White edited (and improved) Strunk’s Elements of Style, a book I still pull from the shelf and leaf through when writing seems like hard work.
I fly fish often, and I’m willing to [...]

Maybe it doesn’t quite eclipse the presidential race in the news cycle, but I learned (via Dave Alston) that Google’s External Keyword tool now offers keyword search volumes.

This handy little addition allows you to do simple keyword research, though serious researchers will continue to use services like Wordtracker.
Still, “Free” has a certain pleasing quality all [...]

Courtesy the inspiring Writer’s Almanac, served daily by Garrison Keillor and American Public Media:
Larry Brown said, “There’s no such thing as a born writer. It’s a skill you’ve got to learn, just like learning how to be a bricklayer or a carpenter.”
You become a better writer by reading great writers, and putting a lot of [...]

I’m on a two-week fly fishing trip in Montana, and in the Interest of seeing Ubuntu Linux perform on the road, I brought my work laptop with me.
Not many posts? I’ve been spending my time here.
The results have been instructive, if not always thrilling.
First, let’s talk wi-fi access.
While Ubuntu glommed onto my home wi-fi [...]