1. The Daring Novelist
   Mystery and adventure author Camille LaGuire writes this blog chronicling her struggles and successes as a genre novelist.
2. Elizabeth Baines’ Blog
   Novelist Elizabeth Baines blogs about her life, her work, and everything in between.
3. Writer Unboxed
   This blog about “the craft and business of fiction” is the work of two aspiring novelists who share their opinions and personal success stories in the world of writing.
4. Seth Godin’s Blog
   Bestselling author Seth Godin shares his thoughts on writing, life, and the business of publishing.
5. Neil Gaiman’s Blog
   Writer, artist, and all-around amazing thinker Neil Gaiman maintains this blog, sharing things of interest, notes on his work, and short reviews of books and films.
6. Poppy Z. Brite’s Blog
   The inimitable Poppy Z. Brite may write more about her personal life than her work, but the read is always a blast.
7. Stephanie Klein’s Blog
   Memoirist and novelist Stephanie Klein maintains this personal blog, offering a look at the life of a working writer.
8. Patti O’Shea’s Blog
   Self-described “paranormal-action-romance writer” Patti O’Shea posts lots of updates to this blog chronicling her writing life and her everyday life.
9. Brenda Coulter’s Blog
   Award-winning romance author Brenda Coulter sheds light on the life of a romance genre writer.
10. Peter David’s Blog
    Literary novelist, TV writer, and genre writer Peter David hosts his personal site and blog at the same place. Lots of short reviews of what he’s writing combined with facts of interest to fans of his work.

This list of the 50 best blogs for word lovers should give any lexophile hours and hours of word fun. Spread across five categories, these 50 blogs are the best the blog universe has to offer the word-obsessed.

Word Lover Blogs

The Internet is made up mostly of words and pictures. Word junkies like the bloggers listed here are stuck on language, the way it is used, and the way it can beautify.

Language Blogs

As our world gets smaller thanks to wide-spread broadband Internet and increased communication across borders, languages become our final identifier. These blogs focus mostly on languages around the world, how they’re similar, how they’re different, and their unique features.

1. Nancy Friedman’s Blog
   Also known as Fritinancy, this blog examines the language problems we come across in everyday life, from a flower shop named after a racy young adult novel to incomprehensible URLs.
2. Pain in the English
   From word coinage to a word’s etymology, to contemporary usage and grammar, this language blog covers it all.
3. Beyond Words
   The blog for a professional translation service, Beyond Words digs a little deeper into both online tech and the philosophy and art of translation. A good place to read about the art and business of translation.
4. About Translation
   Another translator’s blog, About Translation is written by an anonymous certified translator. Topics covered are all over the map, but the author always brings things back to language and translation.
5. Brave New Words
   Regularly updated (every five days like clockwork), Brave New Words is an in-depth look at the latest issues in language, English translation, and other topics of interest to word people.
6. Language Log
   Not for the feint of heart, Language Log digs into the heavy-hitting issues of our language. A recent article is called “Diglossia and digraphia in Guoyu-Putonghua and in Hindi-Urdu,” to give you a sample of the kind of highbrow language talk to expect here.
7. The Language Blog
   I don’t know what it is about translators and translation services, but they sure do love blogging. The Language Blog is a fun read, an easy read, and often wanders away from language to address pop culture from a word junkie’s perspective.
8. The English Blog
   Designed for people teaching or learning English as a second (or third or fourth) language, The English Blog is actually great for native speakers as well, gathering grammar hints and English language news items under one roof.
9. The Virtual Linguist
   The virtual linguist is a blog written by a real-life linguist, covering issues with pronunciation, usage, and grammar. There’s enough hardcore linguist stuff thrown in to call this a legitimate language blog.
10. Language Portal News Blog
    This blog is hard to describe. The mission appears to be to improve the translation and multi-lingual functions of Microsoft Office. Seems dull, but is fascinating to people obsessed with languages and translation.
11. Linguaphiles
    Less a blog than a collection of LiveJournal bloggers talking about their love of language, Linguaphiles made the list because it is a great jumping-off point for learning about all things related to the words we speak and why and how we speak them.

Word Game Blogs

Word lovers love word games. These blogs focus on the ins and outs of games built around language.

1. Scrabble Podcast and Blog
   This combination blog and podcast series is a perfect collection of Scrabble news and tips for players at all levels.
2. Confessionals from Medicine and Scrabble
   The joys and struggles of a doctor-by-day and Scrabble fiend by night.  Lots of hardcore Scrabble tournament data to be mined here.
3. Yet Another Scrabble Blog
   Yes, we know this blog hasn’t updated in  a while. But the blog’s author is still around and responds to all inquiries. This database of Scrabble news and tips is a great bookmark for the word game nerd.
4. Lady and the Blog
   A blog that only sometimes relates to word games, Lady and the Blog is a cute, easy to read, and well-written account of the life of a word and language obsessed mom who is also a Scrabble and word game addict.
5. Word Buff
   Talk about content-rich, Word Buff is a virtual compendium of knowledge on word games and word problems of all varieties.
6. Dr. Goodwords Language Blog
   A blog run by alphaDictionary.com, Dr. Goodwords language blog features new words, hard to spell words, and archaic words, a feast of the eyes for our fellow word fans.
7. Two Way Media’s We Love Word Games
   Though these bloggers are taking an extended winter break as of this writing, this blog is normally hyper with updates and posts on the entire universe of words and word gaming.
8. Hot for Words
   Awesome words and vocabulary lessons delivered by a cute host. Who wouldn’t want to watch along?
9. Scrabble Blog
   As the writer of this blog gets more and more into online Scrabble play, Scrabble Blog becomes a wealth of resources for online word games players, with reviews of games and even reviews of online opponents to keep you busy for hours of word game reading.

Grammar and Usage Blogs

Need a little help with that term paper? These bloggers are sometimes called grammar Nazis, people obsessed not with the beauty of language but by its rules and regulations.

1. Lauren Holder Raab’s Blog
   Writer and editor Lauren Holder Raab writes this blog covering grammar mistakes, common grammar oversights, and notes on diction and word history as well. One of the more polished grammar blogs online.
2. The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
   Good for a laugh but serving an education purpose as well, the “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks provides photo and scanned evidence of the improper use of quotations. You grammar snarks who go out of your way to point out the misuse of punctuation will be in heaven here.
3. Grammar Gang
   Academic style, grammar, usage, and vocabulary are the focus of this extremely detailed blog written by an anonymous teacher and a few other grammar Nazi bloggers.
4. Motivated Grammar
   An anti-prescriptivist blog (and if you know what that word means, you’re in the right category) put together by a doctoral candidate in Linguistics. Examining the way grammar is changing and the way grammar changes are addressed by our culture, Motivated Grammar is a brainy-but-accessible entry into the world of descriptivist language philosophy.
5. Grammar Girl
   This is the kind of girl you could take home to your grammar snob mama. The material here covers more about the life of a grammar-obsessed person than grammar issues themselves. A recent debate on whether or not you should correct other people’s grammar mistakes was particularly heated.
6. Mighty Red Pen
   The Mighty Red Pen never misses an opportunity to point out someone else’s grammar or language mistake, even when these mistakes appear at sites or from media they otherwise respect. Plenty of grammar snark here to tide you over.
7. Barrie England’s Real Grammar
   A highly educated multi-lingual teacher of English as a second language writes this blog, full of long ruminations on topics important to the world of grammar snobs.
8. GrammarPhobia Blog
   A blog for people who aren’t so darn serious about their grammar pickiness, GrammarPhobia blog brings together the world’s of online humor (with its sarcasm) and the mean-spirited world of grammar snits.
9. The Grammar Cop
   From help with homonyms to thoughts on words like “y’all”, The Grammar Cop is another light-hearted look at the way we all destroy our beautiful native language.
10. Daily Grammar
    Daily Grammar suggests that, by playing along with their weekly grammar games and lessons, you will improve your grammar over time. Whether this is true or not, the lessons learned here are valuable to students and teachers alike.

Writer’s Blogs

We all have our favorite writers. Discovering that one of your favorite poets or novelists has a regularly-updated blog is a great way to get deeper into their body of work.

1. Sandra Beasley‘s Chicks Dig Poetry
   One of the best-named language blogs online, Sandra Beasley’s Chicks Dig Poetry is interesting because of Beasley’s position as one of the great up and coming writers in America. Her blog is mostly the expected fare from a writer: best of lists, notes on current events. But following along with Beasley’s thoughts and opinions is well worth the ride.
2. The Best American Poetry
   David Lehman, editor of the Best American Poetry series, contributes to this blog put together by the various editors of that series. Want to keep up with the latest in American letters? Follow this blog.
3. Ron Silliman
   Young writers, poets, and artists of all types best become familiar with Ron Silliman’s blog. Names are made and careers launched at the tip of this one guy’s fingers. Follow Silliman for long and you may wonder when the guy gets any sleep. This blog is that active.
4. C. Dale Young
   Another up-and-coming poet, C. Dale Young is also the editor at about a billion journals and a working doctor. His life is as interesting as you think it would be, but the way Young interacts with his readers is the real star of the show here.
5. Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists
   This blog and site is made up of “an invitation only group of science fiction and fantasy authors.” The goal of the site is to promote and support writers of genre novels, mostly science fiction and fantasy.
6. Angela Gant’s Blog
   This playwright, winner of a Kennedy Center award and just beginning to have success in New York City, recently suffered a traumatic brain injury. Reading along as she recovers is fascinating and uplifting. You have to read it to believe it.
7. Playwrights Foundation Blog
   The blog of the Playwrights Foundation, a group dedicated to supporting American playwrights from all professional levels. News and notes on play writing in America and the state of American theatre.
8. A Writer’s Life
   Genre fiction writer Lee Goldberg shares any and everything that goes on in the life of a contemporary writer.
9. Novelists, Inc. Blog
   Lesser-known writers, mostly eBook authors, banded together to support the blog of their group, Novelists, Inc. A great inside look at the business of eBook sales and the lives of struggling word artists.
10. Writer Unboxed
    Two aspiring novelist friends started Writer Unboxed in 2006, and have since given us an inside look at their successes, their failures, and their new word and language obsessions.

Some ways to improve business communication include

• Develop a company communication policy.
• Standardize the use of emails
• Hold regular meetings
• Encourage active listening
• Provide formal training

1. Develop a Company Communication Policy

A company-wide communication policy can improve the efficiency of a business. The policy can specify which means of communication should be used in different circumstances. For example, the policy may restrict email use to conveying factual information. Developing a communication policy will avoid misunderstandings and errors within the company. It will prevent employees from misusing equipment and reduce conflict within the workplace.

2. Standardize the Use of Emails

Emails can be easily misunderstood because written communication lacks the secondary communication cues of body language and facial expression. Due to the nature of emails, a misunderstanding can lead to immense conflict in the workplace. To avoid this, standardize the use of emails. Make it clear that emails are only to be used for certain communication needs. For example, restrict the use of emails to convey factual material rather than emotional messages. A termination would be conveyed face to face, while a financial report would be conveyed via email.

3. Hold Regular Meetings

Although meetings are often thought to be wasteful, they serve a useful purpose. A properly run meeting can give employees an opportunity to raise issues within the workplace. Meetings can also be used to convey company policy or team goals. It can clarify decisions and answer questions. Formal meeting structures can prevent abuse of the process. Meetings are a useful method of face to face communication, if used correctly.

4. Formal Training

Many places offer business courses which can improve communication abilities. Business communication is regularly offered as an option in many colleges. Making training available to staff and management will improve communication skills. It will also enable employees to use current technology such as windows 8 to communicate effectively.

5. Encourage Active Listening.

Listening is one of the most important features of communication. A company or management that does not listen to workers will not succeed. Practice active listening with employees and management. Active listening means using body language to show interest in information. Taking time to show this interest encourages staff to communicate. Active communication avoids future conflict in the workplace.

Communication is a vital skill in the business environment. Effective communication can prevent conflict in the workplace and encourage innovation. A good strategy will improve productivity and profitability. Communication can be improved by providing opportunities for information exchange such as meetings, offering training courses and active listening. In addition, a company-wide communication policy will improve the environment and efficacy of the workplace.

• Software and Applications. There is an application for just about every type of study out there. I love Rosetta Stone because it is an excellent way to learn with online updates, and learn at your own pace. It is one of the best ways to learn a language. Look for the applications that are appropriate for your study course. There is always more than one. Skype is another excellent way to talk with others on a video call and practice your language, or discuss other issues.

• Mobile. Mobile learning with a business phone (smartphone) will allow you to listen and practice on the go. This means you can be attending an online class while you are on the way to work on the train. Look for the best mobile plan, which will normally mean you will be looking at a business mobile phone plan. See what your company can do about it for you.

• iPod or MP3 Player. If you want to go to the extreme of learning, especially with a language, then an iPod with your earphones on while you are asleep will take you to the next level. I have used this strategy before exams, and it is amazing what goes into your memory with such a method. You can record lectures and set them up to play for a full 8 hours as you sleep. Keep a balance with this strategy, as you don’t want to overload your thoughts and dreams.

• Internet. Internet learning makes learning available to just about everyone. Whether you are using VOIP applications to talk to everyone around the world, or you are just getting access to the latest information on your topic of choice, the internet is the way to go. If you are studying finance, set up your laptop to be playing the latest in finance news and listen away as you go about your life at home. You don’t need to wait for the television to listen and watch what you want.

If you feel that you do not have the money to get the technology you need, you are wrong. There are many ways to get your hands on the best products, such as eBay and other websites where you can buy second-hand items in great condition at very low prices. You can get trial versions of applications before you buy. You can buy applications with other people at the same time to get reduced costs. There is nothing to stop you. I even got a computer that was fully functional from the dump once.

Quotes on Blackjack Gambling

I love blackjack. But I’m not addicted to gambling. I’m addicted to sitting in a semi circle. – Mitch Hedberg

Some kids are always getting into trouble or doing stuff, and I stay away from those types. I know I am no better than anyone else in this world. I’m just an actor, that’s nothing special. But I’m not into anything bad. Just blackjack. – Frankie Muniz

As a boy, I remember the hypocrisy of Catholic school kids who, after peeling off like dive-bombers from the end of a long line walking to church, disappeared into the local candy store to gamble by playing blackjack. – Bernard Katz

Gambling with cards or dice or stocks is all one thing. It’s getting money without giving an equivalent for it. – Henry Ward Beecher

The house doesn’t beat the player. It just gives him the opportunity to beat himself. – Nick Dandalos

Blackjack Quotes from TV and Movies

Blackjack gets its share of quotes from the film industry. Maybe screenwriters prefer blackjack to slots and roulette, or maybe they understand the numbers better than many casino gamblers go. Or maybe the game of blackjack just lends itself to dramatization better than someone sitting in front of a slot machines or waiting for a wheel to stop spinning.

And then again, maybe the movies 21 and Vegas Vacation are just more quotable. These blackjack quotes run the gamut from the melodramatic to the farcical, so hopefully everyone interested in gambling quotes can find something to suit their tastes.

Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery. – Christopher Holley (Quote from the Movie “21″)

It’s all what you do in the moment, baby. – Christopher Holley (Quote from the Movie “21″)

Always account for variable change. – Laurence Fishburne (Quote from the Movie “21″)

You wanna count cards, you do it in Atlantic City. – Laurence Fishburne (“21″)

You think you can beat the system? This is the system…beatin’ you back! – Laurence Fishburne (“21″)

The only thing worse than a loser is someone who won’t admit he played badly. – Kevin Spacey (Quotes from “21″)

Yeah, well I’m gonna build my own lunar space lander! With blackjack and hookers! Actually, forget the space lander, and the blackjack. Ah, screw the whole thing! – Bender (Futurama)

I’ve lost $300 in fifteen minutes. – Chevy Chase (Quote from the movie “Vegas Vacation”)

Clark (Chevy Chase): Twenty. I’ll stay.
Marty (Wallace Shawn): [flips over his card] Wha…it’s twenty. It’s a push!
Clark: I didn’t lose!
Marty: That’s it, Griswold! You are freakin’ dead!
- Vegas Vacation

[Marty points to the Table Limit Sign $10 minimum]
Marty: Come on, Griswold. You think that sign is there to hold the table down?
Clark (Chevy Chase): What can I do with $5?
Marty: Gee, I don’t know. Buy a bullet and rent a gun?
- Vegas Vacation

Clark (Chevy Chase): Eddie, I gambled away more money than you’ll ever understand.
Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid): Try me.
Clark: [whispering] $22,800.
Eddie: [shouting] Oh God! Oh God! Oh my shod! Oh God! Oh my God!
- Vegas Vacation

You don’t know when to quit, do ya Griswold?…Here’s an idea: Why don’t you give me half the money your were gonna to bet, then we’ll go out back, I’ll kick you in the nuts, and we’ll call it a day. – Wallace Shawn (from “Vegas Vacation”)

That’s it Clark…show him who’s boss. It’s people like you who come here and blow the family nest egg that built this town…not this pretty boy. – Randy Quaid (from “Vegas Vacation”)

Well, I hope you kids have learned something about the dangers of gambling. – Beverly D’Angelo

I’ll leave it up to the readers to decide whether Vegas Vacation or 21 has more to tell us about how to play blackjack. In either case, the blackjack quote from legendary professional gambler Nick Dandalos is probably the pithiest quote on the subject.

Sometimes you don’t have the words to say what you want to say.

In those cases, buying a gift item or special card from Hallmark is a perfectly legitimate way to express yourself. Even writers and wordsmiths sometimes find themselves at a loss for words, often at the most important times.

Finding a card which expresses what you feel is sometimes the best policy.

Like with any other purchase, when you decide to buy, it’s best to make the purchase for as cheap as possible and save as much money as you can for a rainy day. So I wanted to mention printable coupons and coupon codes you can get online.

Why Hallmark Coupons?

I’ll admit, I recently got into the downloaded coupon phase in my own life. As with any new idea, you think it’s just the most brilliant thing in the world, and want to pass it on to someone else. The fact is, with a tiny amount of trouble and a decent printer, you can get just about anything in life a little cheaper with free Internet coupons. Just about every retail chain has whole websites designed to provide you with free coupons, usually posted by other customers of that retail chain.

Here are a few links to Hallmark coupon savings.

Hallmark Coupons at Coupon Cabin

The Hallmark Coupons at Coupon Cabin includes promotion codes for Hallmark cards and e-cards. These promo codes tend to cover a number of discount ranges and free postage.

• 20% off Hallmark Items
• 15% off Hallmark Items
• Free Postage when They Address for You
• Free Stamps for Valentine’s Day Cards (expired)
• 25% off Hallmark Items – Personalized Valentines (expired)
• 20% off Hallmark Flowers (expired)
• 30% off Personalized Greetings and Party Products
• 20% off plus Free Mailing/Addressing

Three of the eight Hallmark Coupon items I listed from Coupon Cabin are expired, so that should tell you about how often you can expect to put up with that. I prefer the websites which automatically remove coupon codes when they expire, because it takes the onus off the visitor to keep track of such things. That avoid time wasted and embarrassment of trying to use an invalid coupon at the front of a line.

That being said, Coupon Cabin offers a number of useful coupons and discounts, and all you have to do is read the print to know which codes are expired. You probably don’t even need to look to know the Valentine’s Day promotions are out-of-date.

Hallmark Coupons at Deals Plus

Deals Plus also has its share of Hallmark Coupons–about half as many. Since these include the same free postage and discount offers, you might have guessed that DealsPlus has the same offers, but takes down their old and out-of-date promotions.

Hallmark Coupons at Retail-Me-Not

As always, RetailMeNot has one of the best coupon packages. The Retail Me Not Hallmark Coupons not only have all the older discount codes flushed out of the system, their page offers an “average discount” ($9 in this instant) figure and a success rate involving costumer feedback.

These codes include the familiar (30% off certain items, 15% off any item), but also include a few promotions I haven’t seen elsewhere, free shopping tips for Hallmark, and one or two coupon codes marked “New”. These are a double-edged sword, because they might include hot new deals you haven’t heard about yet (if you search for coupons a lot), but there’s no customer feedback, so you’re in the dark whether these really work or not.

Hallmark In-Store Offers

The Official Hallmark Website offers its own Hallmark in-store offers, including (currently) Easter Sale Items and a separate section for everyday discounts. These are often small discounts, but Hallmark occasionally offers bigger discount items and clearance sales, so it’s good to check this page periodically.

For many, writing a song is the path to fame and fortune, penning a hit tune that everyone wants to download to their iPod. But writing good music also can be about personal edification, creating for the simple love of making art.

Whether you want to write a song to sell to a famous musical artist, become a one-hit wonder yourself, or want to write a personal tune for you and a loved one, I’ll show you how to write music and tap your artistic creativity.

Start Writing Music

Start penning songs as soon as possible. The more you write, the better you’ll become. Also, the more you write, the better the chances are you’ll write a real good song or a catchy tune.

You’ve seen all the big acts over the years. Even the best song-writers and the most successful bands can’t write a hit song every time out. In fact, even the most successful bands and musicians are lucky to have a handful of hits off of each album. There are many more one-hit wonders than iconic stars in the music-making business.

So why is it an artist has one amazing hit tune, then can’t find the magic again?

Because writing a hit single is hard, even for the best. You need skill, luck, and good timing. This might be a lifelong pursuit, so get started today. In fact, as soon as you get a certain level of skill, commit to writing a certain number of songs per week.

Listen to a Lot of Music

Novel writers read books. Poets read poetry. Film makers watch a lot of movies. Painters study paintings. So it’s only natural for a song-writer to listen to a lot of songs.

As you listen to different music, ask yourself what you like about any particular song. Is it the lyrics, the rhythm, the chord progression, or the catchy chorus? Do you like the mood it produces?

Find what it is you like about particular songs and try to reproduce that in your own way. Listen to many styles of music, because this keeps you from simply copying one other act’s music.

Learn Music Theory

You don’t have to get a music degree, but it helps to learn musical technique. Learn the business you’re in. Technical knowledge expands your horizons and lets you accomplish all you can imagine. If you have a good idea, you want to be able to execute that idea.

This means you want to understand melodies, understand rhythm, and understand harmony. You want a basic understanding of what makes music happen.

Become Inspired – Be Prepared to Produce Music

You never know when you’ll get inspired. So keep a notepad with you to jot down ideas and lyrics. Keep a recorder with you to record tunes, riffs, and hooks that come to mind throughout the day. Keep a musical instrument with you, so you can pick out the tunes as they come to you.

Most importantly, you need to have a way to record every moment of inspiration that comes to you, because you don’t want to waste any idea. You never know when inspiration hits.

Collect Pieces of Songs

Most of the time, you won’t have a whole song hit you in a moment of complete clarity and inspiration. Most of the time, you’ll have one snippet of music, one line of lyrics, or a vague idea for a song hit you. Collect these patches of songs and keep them for later.

You’ll eventually come back to these ideas and use them. Maybe you patch several of them into one big, good idea for a song. You might need to write on a song significantly to make it work, but if you collect enough pieces, you’ll eventually start finding ideas that work.

Mix and Match Tunes with Words

You want the mood of your music to fit the meaning of the words. If you have a song about love and joy, you want a joyful tune. If you want a song about loneliness and sorrow, you want the music to evoke sadness.

Consider matching your words with music like matching clothes. You can have a nice top and a nice pair of pants, but if they don’t match and you wear both at once, you’re still going to look like a clown in them. So make sure everything matches.

Write Interesting Lyrics – Have Something to Say

Have something to say when you write your lyrics, and write them as if you’re talking to someone. Pretend you’re telling someone a story. Pretend you’re trying to persuade someone. Pretend you have something to say to a loved one.

In any case, having good lyrics always helps a song. You can have a hit with bad lyrics, if the rest is good. There have been plenty of hit songs that had cliched lyrics, but that doesn’t mean you should strive for mediocrity. Do your best to make every part of your song excellent, and you’ll have a better chance of havin a hit.

Have a Balanced Song

To have a hit song with a memorable chorus, you’re going to need to add in a certain amount of repetition. Repetion is what makes a song recognizable and catchy. If you make a song too repetitious, though, people get sick of it immediately.

With that in mind, add in enough repetition to make your song stick in people’s heads, but avoid in enough variety to keep people interested. Achieve a balance.

Find the Hook

Good hit singles have a hook, which is the part of the song that is catchy, strikes an emotional chord, and stays with you long after the song is off the radio. Hooks tend to be found in the chorus or refrain of songs, but that’s not always the case.

There’s no easy way to find a hook. If it was easy, we’d all be millionaires. Keep working to find the hook for your songs, and if you find one, you’ll know it immediately.

Edit and Improve the Song

Don’t assume your song is perfect the first time out. Continue to work on the song, to tweak it and make it better, and you’ll eventually have a finished product of higher quality. Many hit songs were sung one way for months or years, only to be changed for the better in the studio.

Get Feedback and Criticism

Ask your friends and other people in the industry for feedback and opinions on your work. Write a few songs before you start asking, though, because you’ll have a better idea how to incorporate good new ideas, and when a suggestion isn’t so good.

When you have several songs, this gives your friends and family options and preferences. Instead of telling you they like the one song you wrote, you give them the option to focus on the best songs of the bunch. The one’s that get consistently commented on are the ones you should continue working on, while the ones that get ignored probably aren’t going to make the cut.

Keep Writing Songs

Never stop. Song-writing is a life-long venture for most people who write music. It’s a passion, a hobby, and sometimes a career. In either case, make everything I’ve written a part of your lifestyle, so you’ll continue to produce and continue to improve as life goes on.

A cover letter is your best chance to grab the attention of a potential employer when you send in a resume, so adding an effective cover letter increases your chances of finding a good job or career.

Consider a cover letter like a slogan for a political candidate, a tagline for a new movie, or a great title for an article or book. The cover letter grabs the attention of its reader and lets you stand out from the stack of other job applications and resumes the hiring manager reads through in a day.

So to give yourself the best chance of attaining that job you need, here’s how to write a good cover letter.

Read the Job Description

Thoroughly read through the job description. Understand exactly what it is the company wants in its new employee. You need to analyze the job and determine which skills and qualifications are most important to it.

On a notepad or in a notebook, jot down what each and every one of these factors are. Then place a checkmark next to the ones you have proper experience to do. These are your strengths. Highlight these strengths in your cover letter and resume.

Update the Resume

Anytime you are applying for a new job, tweak your resume to reflect how your skills, education, and experience is tailored to the position for which you’re applying. This doesn’t take much time, and it shows an attention to detail that could impress the employer. Most important, you show why you are best for the position.

Research the Organization

The organization you’re handing your resume into is most interested in its own situation, so research the facts and information about the business receiving the resume, and make certain your cover letter is relevant your new prospective company. Below are some potential things to research.

• What is the company’s customer base, demographic, or target market?
• How does this company set itself apart from its major competition?
• What is the company’s main services? What are their business values?
• What is the history of the business? Who founded the organization and how has it evolved over the years?

Personalize the Application Process

Learn the name of the specific manager of the department you are applying to join. Network by getting in personal contact with them. If you can’t get in contact any other way, call the human resources department at this company.

Writing a Cover Letter

When writing a cover letter, you want to enter your address at the top of the page (left-hand corner 1-inch down). Then skip down 4 lines and enter the date. Then skip down 4 lines and enter the contact person, as well as the name of the company.

If possible, write your cover letter to a specific person in the organization. This is where your research comes into play. Write “To Whom It May Concern” if you don’t know a name, or “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam” if you do.

Write a 3-4 Paragraph Cover Letter

The cover letter should be short, yet informative. You want to write why you’re writing them, outline your qualifications (by matching them to job requirements), show enthusiasm and discuss how you can help the company reach its goals (this is where knowing its goals help), then finish with an action statement (more later).

• First Paragraph – In 2-3 sentences, state which position you’re applying for. Unless you want to name drop a person important or known to the reader, don’t mention how you learn of the job opening, and do not write “I want to apply for…” type sentences. Instead, write an opening that’s going to get the reader to pay attention.
• Second-Third Paragraphs – Discuss your qualifications and how your experience and skills are going to help the company read its goals. Make 2-3 quick, cogent points. use the research of the company to state their goals and values and how you would make a good team member. This shows you are going to be a good team player and you’re in it for more than yourself.
• Final Paragraph – In 2-4 sentences, end with an “action statement”, which is a call to action on the part of the reader. Direct them to the resume, or discuss your design for an interview. Given contact information and call for them to contact you. Finally, thank this person for their time and consideration in reading your resume.

Cover Letter Conclusion

In conclusion, use a closing phrase like “Yours Sincerely” for a named person, a “Yours Faithfully” or “Regards” for an unnamed reader. Leave enough room to sign your name at the bottom of the ending, and sign in blue ink (instead of black ink), so they know this isn’t a photocopy.

Proofread the Cover Letter

Always proofread your cover letter before putting it in the envelope. You want to make sure nothing stands out about your grammar, spelling, or sentence structure. If it does, then the reader is going to focus on this, instead of the content of your letter and resume, which is where you want the focus. Here are things to watch.

• Run through a Spellcheck – Spellchecking is essential. Having misspellings makes you look bad, incompetent, and careless.
• Avoid Contractions – Have no contractions in your cover letter.
• Check Punctuation
• Be Upbeat and Informative – Sell yourself and sell your energy for this job.
• Sound Professional – Avoid colloquialisms (regional slang) and sound objective. The idea is to sound like an educated, organized business professional.
• Use Active Verbs – Active verbs show you acting and taking initiative. (“I did this…”) Passive verbs shows the world acting on you. (“This happened to me…”) Make sure every sentence has an active verb.
• Avoid Being Long-Winded – Keep your cover letter to one page. If it spills onto a second page, tighten up your letter.

Don’t make your cover letter a simple rehash or rewording of your resume. You want to touch on the highlights and discuss exactly how your skills and qualifications make you perfect for this job. Consider it part-resume, part-job description. Be concise and use sharp language. Never use the word “very”, and avoid words like “that” or “which”, when grammatically correct. Use one word instead of two, if possible.

Finally, know your employer. Understand if they are a traditional or unconventional company. If they are unconventional, you have more wriggle room in how you present your cover letter. If they are traditional, don’t get too cute with your cover letter.

If you’ve been sending out your resume for a while and haven’t got many callbacks, then you might be under-qualified or overqualified for the positions you’re applying. Or you might not know how to write a resume.

Having a good resume is important in getting noticed when its time for interviews. A bad resume might not necessarily contain bad information. The problem might be in the presentation itself. Put yourself in the position of the person who reads resumes at a business.

Members of management who do the hiring at a company see a lot of resumes in a day. It’s like looking into a crowd of people on the street. If yours is one of the resumes which blends into the crowd, you’re just a face in the crowd. You want your resume to stand out without offending. You want to be one of the beautiful people in the crowd.

Focus on Essentials – Resume Writing Tips

When you start writing your resume, focus on what’s really important about your skills, credentials, and experience. When I say “what’s important”, I mean what’s important for the specific job you want. Tailor your resume to the position in this company.

That means you need to research the company you’re sending the resume to. That means you want to read the job description thoroughly and learn a little bit extra information about that job, perhaps reading more about job in general, or calling human resources at that company to learn a few additional details.

Tailoring your resume means you’ll need to tweak your resume to fit the job. Once you learn more about the company’s values and mission statement, and once you know about the specific job you want, tweak your resume to address the company’s needs, values, and identity, and tweak your resume to list exactly which skills, qualifications, and qualities you have that apply to the job. Convey to the manager why your skills make you best qualified for this position, and how you can help the company reach its goals.

When looking at the job description, search for these skills and professional behaviors to highlight.

• Being a Team Player
• Attaining Goals
• Communication
• Listening Skills
• Skills at Analysis
• Efficiency
• Reliability
• Dedication
• Determination
• Confidence and Pride
• Integrity
• Initiative and Energy
• Motivation

When addressing motivation, you’ll sound selfish if you only discuss how you want to further your career. This is where learning about company goals is important, because you can discuss the motivations of the business, and how you are motivated to help them achieve their goals, too.

Resume Tips – Make It Easy to Read

Presentation is huge when submitting a resume. You have to make your resume stand out from the crowd, without being tasteless or using a bunch of gimmicks. Novelty can work, but it can be a big turn-off, especially with the conversative nature of hiring managers. Avoid color paper, alternative fonts, 3D graphics, and other newfangled approaches. You might be asking what’s left.

Actually, there’s a lot of things you can do. Pick one font (serift New Times Roman, sans serif Helvetica, sans serif Arial, or Century Old Style for traditional jobs) and stick with that font. Don’t use a non-traditional font which isn’t going to be used by the company, because it’s going to look strange and unprofessional. Always use black-and-white.

Make good use of bold words and italicized words to highlight important information. When I say “good use”, I mean that you should use it, but only sparingly. Overdo it and you’re resume is going to look loud and overcrowded. White space is important, too, especially for making your resume look organized and tidy. Consistency is important with fonts, and also with format.

Choose a Consistent Writing Style

Personal pronouns like I, you, and we are traditionally excluded from a resume. You have your choice of either 1st person or 3rd person, but remain consistent. You want to come across as personable, so play around with each and see how your resume looks in each style. Maintain correct tense throughout the entire resume.

When writing a resume, you want to maintain a balance between formality and informality. You don’t want to sound too stiff, but if you are too informal, you won’t sound professional.

Organize Content Logically

There are several ways to organize the content of a resume. The two main choices are functional, focusing on your skills and qualifications, or chronological ordering, placing everything by date. Each works in the right situation, and each has weaknesses in the wrong situation.

For instance, if you change jobs frequently, a chronological resume makes you look unreliable. The functional resume tends to work for people who change jobs frequently, who are a little older, and for those who are coming off a career hiatus. Use the functional method if you prefer to focus on your skills and qualifications.

For people who want to show an evolving and unbroken accumulation of experience and success, the chronological resume works well. If you have been with one company and you have increased your position in that company, along with evolving responsibilities and improving experience, a chronological history of your career works well to highlight that.

You can also use both methods in the same resume, but this can get confusing or disorganized, if you’re not careful, so beware if you try to split the difference.

Make a Master List – Resume Skills and Qualifications

You want a complete list of your skills, qualifications, and experience to draw from when writing a resume. This isn’t going to be your resume, but a list you use to fill out your resume and cover letter. Keep this master list, so you can tweak your resume from one job application to another. Brainstorm to list everything which might be listed on a resume. Here’s what should be on this master list.

• All Jobs
• All Work Experience (Internships, Volunteer Work)
• Degrees
• Coursework
• Special Skills
• Awards
• Personal Projects
• Interesting Factoids about Yourself
• Impressive Factoids about Yourself
• Add as Your Life Evolves and Proceeds
• Group by Category

Once more, not all of this is going on your resume. You want a good list to pull from, so you can insert any skills or credentials that might mesh with the job you’re considering. This helps you customize your resume to any job you might apply for.

Make a Brief Resume

Keep your resume brief. It should be no more than one or two pages, unless you have had a long career and a vast amount of experience. One page for every ten years is appropriate, but try not to make a resume beyond 2 pages, except in rare circumstances.

Keep in mind that most resumes are read in 2 minutes or less, so you want to present the most important, cogent, and impressive information, so you make sure it is read in this two-minute time frame. Interest the company in learning more. It’s in your interview that you can introduce all the additional information you want to include on your resume.

Avoid Pitfalls of Resume Writing

When learning how to write a resume, learn how to avoid many of the common pitfalls of resume building. Here are some of the most common mistakes made.

• Don’t pad your resume with untruths. 30% of all resumes include exaggerations about a person’s achievements, education level, or abilities. This naturally causes skepticism and cynicism about boasts on resumes, and it’s easy now than ever to check these facts. Don’t state something which isn’t true. If your information isn’t correct, it’s major points off.
• Avoid making demands. A resume is not a time to negotiate what you expect out of this relationship. This is a huge turn-off for hiring associates.
• Qualify yourself, but don’t over-qualify yourself, for the job. If you try to wow whoever is reading the resume, it can backfire, if they think you are over-qualified. So save the additional credentials for the interview, when they are already interested and are more aware of your personality.
• Don’t list weaknesses. You’ll probably be asked to assess your weaknesses in the interview. Be prepared for that question, but don’t start listing your flaws unless asked.
• Don’t sound stubborn or difficult. People tend to praise themselves for their strong will, their ability to stand their ground, and to speak the truth, but these are double-edged swords on a resume. For instance, this can easily be perceived as difficult, hard-headed, and obstinate. Those aren’t positive qualities from the perspective of a boss, supervisor, or employer.
• Don’t send a photo. Only send a picture of yourself if your appearance is an essential part of your job. (That means actor, model, etc)

Tailor Your Resume

Once again, always tweak your resume to fit the job description of the job being offered. It’s worth the little extra time to tailor a resume, instead of sending out a great bulk of resumes. Send out a lot of them and tweak them all, if possible, but lean towards a personal touch, instead of an impersonal dedication to bulk resume sending.

Make Your Resume Interesting

Do something to make your resume interesting or stand out. This doesn’t mean gaudy colors, informal addresses, or other gimmicks. Instead, list your best accomplishments in a way to make yourself sound interesting.

Discuss skills and affiliations that make you more alluring. If you know a second or third language, list these. Mention your professional affiliations; these show your dedication, and you never know when the hiring supervisor is also affiliated with this organization. Discuss military service, special training, and list any personal endorsements by people who matter.

You are selling yourself, so don’t be shy about singing your praises. Just make certain you are singing about real accomplishments, and not made-up credentials. Make your job experience sound interesting and positive. Find new words to describe old job skills. Don’t say your answered phones or sold over the phone. Mention high volume selling or the like. Always use action verbs which show you acting on the world, instead of passive verbs showing the world acting on you.

Proofread – Resume Writing Advice

Finally, proofread everything at least twice. You want no typos or mess-up which detracts from your presentation. Even one slip-up puts a hole in the entire resume. It becomes a glaring weakness, which destroys your credibility. Make your resume flawless from this point of view, so the reader focuses on your skills, credentials, and work experience.

See also: The Ultimate Resume Guide: 50 Tips, Tools, and Tricks

Learn how to write a poem so you can express yourself and give form to your thoughts.

Like prose, writing poetry might be about observation of the world around you, or it might be about revealing your innermost thoughts. Your poems might dwell on romance and your love life, feelings about cherished family members, or an inanimate object that evokes a feeling or emotion in you. Writing a poem can be about anything, in fact.

So put pen to paper or finger to keyboard and start to express yourself through poetry. To help you get started, here’s how to write poetry.

Read Poetry – Listen to Poetry

Reading poetry gives you an idea what looks and sounds good in poetic form, and gives you an idea for good and bad poetry. Listening to poetry is even better, even if you have to read it out loud for yourself. Something many people these days forget about poems is that, from the earliest of times until today, poetry is meant to sound good when read aloud.

You want to read a variety of poems, even if you eventually reject some of the classics. It’s one thing to become familiar with the classic poetic forms and understand them, only to choose alternate poetic forms, and it’s another matter entirely to be ignorant of the classic forms of poetry. Read and absorb as much as you can, then start making artistic judgments based on your knowledge of poetry–not your lack of knowledge.

Poems tend to be short, like pop songs, so there’s no reason you can’t become familiar with a lot of them.

Find Inspiration

Many new poets face a kind of writers block where they can’t get anything on the page, because they expect everything to be brilliant. That should not be your concern right now. Instead, look for inspiration.

You might get inspiration from an event, emotion, or idea you had today. You might have a phrase or line of verse in your head, that can become something longer and more expansive. Whatever it is that catches your attention, use this as inspiration and jot it down.

Do not edit yourself or your thoughts. The key to good poetry is honesty, so write exactly what you’re feeling. If you’re faking it or writing insincere art, it’s going to come through in the poetry and it’s going to stymie your writing. Let the thoughts, emotions, and ideas flow.

Imagine your inhibitions to be a man called “The Keeper at the Gate”. Don’t let the Keeper at the Gate stand in the way of you and good poetry writing. Edit nothing. Censor nothing. Get words on the paper. Edit after you’ve written poetry, not before.

Consider What You Want to Achieve

When sitting down to write a poem, consider what it is you want to convey or achieve in this poem. Have an idea of the thought, emotion, or information you want to convey. Consider the audience, whether it’s your boyfriend or girlfriend, your circle of friends, a family member, your classmates, or your poetry teacher. Write to this audience.

Writing is a form of communication. To be a good poet, you have to be a good poetic communicator. That means you use words and ideas that are familiar to your audience, yet are arranged in an original and creative way, something they’ve never seen nor heard before. Perhaps you want to twist the perspective just enough to make them see something old in a new light. The point being, you want to communicate to this person or audience, so be clear and honest.

A mistake many young writers make in prose and poetry is to use the new words they’re learning and reading–to use big words. Good communication is to get your point across as clearly as possible, so it’s better if you use common, everyday words, but use them in unique ways. Only use a big word or term if it’s the most accurate way to convey the emotion or idea you’re trying to convey.

Avoid Cliches in Poetry

At the same time, you want to avoid cliches. A cliched term or poetic phrase is like shorthand; the reader is naturally going to skip over it or ignore it. Instead, find some way of writing poetry that engages the mind of the reader or listener, and forces them to think about what you are saying. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but a little imagination and creativity is going to go a long way in presenting something new and fresh.

Choose a Poetic Form or Style

Find a type of poetry and try to write in that style. Play around with various styles, such as sonnets, limericks, and haiku. There are countless options from which to choose.

The idea of fitting your poetry into a form is that it forces you to be creative, while presenting something familiar to the audience. It’s like the great filmmakers of the early 20th century, or the Russian novelists of the 19th century, or the French Impressionists–the restrictions placed on them force them to create some of the most ingenius works of art.

Do As Your Instructor Says

Many professors and poetry teachers avoid old style poetic forms in their beginning poetry courses, because they want to avoid sing-song-y rhymes and stilted poetry. That is, they want to encourage students to write and break down their preconceived notions of poetry writing, so they discourage styles of poetry–at least in the first half of the course.

If that’s the case, then ignore the “Choose a Poetic Form or Style” advice. In my experience, going without a form makes new poets sound like prose writers, but that’s the instructor’s prerogative, and I can see why they do it. If you’re writing poetry for a course, do as the instructor says, because he or she is your audience.

Use Poetic Device, But Use Them Sparingly

Rhyme, meter, metaphor, simile, repetition, assonance, and alliteration are all poetic devices you should use from time to time. These enhance the reading of poetry, add a certain sense of anticipation for the reader, adds accent to certain points of the poem, and adds form and cohesiveness to the overall work of art.

At the same time, any of these can be overdone. Assonance and alliteration done too often makes a poem sound silly and comical. Meter done badly is doggerel, while rhyme done too often or too poorly sounds both comical and bad. Overdone metaphors, similes, and repetition just gets annoying for the reader.

View adding these devices to poetry like you would adding spices to a meal. They are great in small quantities to enhance, but if they can’t become the focus, or else you overwhelm the presentation.

Once again, listen to your instructor’s advice on this and take that advice. In a poetry class, your grades are going to reflect the attention you pay to instruction.

Seek Inspiration

Try to find inspiration for your poetry. If you want to write about nature, it’s best to get into nature and experience it. Go to a park, a lake, or a nearby wooded area. This not only gets you in the mood, but might give you something to focus on.

Just the same, if you want to write about your love partner or a family tragedy, try to find inspiration. Think about this person and write down particular things about them. Consider visiting a place that is or was special to both of you, or in the case of the deceased, visit their grave or other location specific to them.

If you have writers block, go to a public place and observe people and scenes. Jot down what you see. Eventually, something is going to inspire you.

Keep a Notebook – Write Your Thoughts

As you get new thoughts, write them down. You want to keep a notebook of ideas and half-thoughts, because these can become a perfect thought or phrase for a later poem. Your memory doesn’t serve you nearly as well as you think it does, and not nearly as well as poetry notebook or journal.

Thoughts come to you all day, often at random times when you don’t expect them. That’s the beauty of life, that you never know when something fresh and new is going to happen. Keep poetry notes and a writing tool on you, so you keep good notes of the best moments in your day.

Use Descriptions and Solid Imagery

The worst mistake you can make in poetry is to be vague. The best poetry is specific, concrete, and vivid. You won’t write very good poetry if you stick with abstractions like love, hate, joy, and sadness.

Instead of talking about love, hate, joy, and depression, show it. Describe these emotions through actions and scenes that convey these same emotions, but deal in real “brick-and-mortar” moments, not simply abstractions. Don’t write about love; show love.

Find objects and actions that evoke the emotions you want to discuss. In other words, talk about these emotions obliquely. As an exercise, try to write a poem about love without using the word “love” or its synonyms. Try to write a poem about sadness without using the word or its synonyms. Choose any emotion and try to use the same technique.

Be Vivid and Descriptive

Describe the scene. That means describing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and even touches in the scene you set. Be vivid about the scene you wish to describe, instead of simply using descriptive words like “loud”, “noisy”, “smelly”, “tasty”, “crowded”, and really describe in vivid detail what the scene is like, and how the scene makes you feel.

Edit Your Poetry – Get Opinions

Don’t be afraid to edit your own writing. If you are a pack-rat type with your own words, keep a copy of the original (real easy on a computer). Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap that the first draft of a poem is perfect and inviolate. You can always improve.

Towards that end, find friends and classmates whose opinion you trust and respect, and whom you know is going to give you honest criticism of your poetry. The best friend you can have in a poetry circle is the one who isn’t afraid to criticize you. You’ll have plenty who are going to give you encouragement and positive reviews, but all that positivity isn’t going to make you a better poet. You have to learn what you’re doing wrong, in order to improve.

This doesn’t mean you have to blindly follow suggestions. Even good critics can be wrong. But you have to understand you won’t always make the right choices when writing poetry, just like any other part of life. Don’t get caught up in embarrassment, defensiveness, pettiness, or a need to be right when discussing your poetry. Good poems are, more than anything else, honest. Honesty in criticism is also going to lead to better poetry. It’s all about honesty and laying it on the line.

Eventually, you’ll ask for your friends to give their “honest opinion”. Most will say, “That’s great” or “I love your poetry”, and some will mean it. But when you get the rare negative review, bend over backwards to avoid being defensive or to justify and explain your decisions. Instead, try to explore their fault-finding and encourage them to give more, because if you shut them down immediately, you aren’t likely to get honest opinions later. Encourage real criticism. Remember, they are criticizing your poem, not you.

Improve and Edit

Once again, after getting criticism, edit and improve your poetry. Listen honestly and openly to every suggestion. That doesn’t mean you have to take the advice, but you should at least try to understand the criticism, and consider whether it works for your poem. Keep an open mind and be willing to modify your art, if it makes sense.

Save the Best for Last

Try to save the best insight, message, or image for the end of your poem. This is the punchline to the joke, the final chapter of the book, the final scene of a movie. If you have a good ending, it’s going to stay with the reader longer.