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WORDPROS’ WRITING BLOG is filled with tips and tricks to help you improve your writing skills. Whether you are a professional writer, a blogger, an Executive Secretary, or an English Major, a few basic tips can take your writing from bland to WOW.

We’ve written for print magazines since 1994. We’ve also written our fair share of political speeches for politicians in the great state of New Mexico.

OUR MOST BASIC ADVICE: keep it simple, keep it active [voice, of course], and keep it real. And, if you want to be rich and famous– STUDY ACTING.

BEING A REAL WRITER is like having a term paper due every day of the week.

IF YOU CAN’T TAKE TIME PRESSURE, can’t meet a deadline, and you don’t just really LOVE to write, then remember these three words: “DON’T DO IT!”

You’ll find some great quotable quotes for your speechwriting projects & lots of web-based tips; check the categories on the right for more info!

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

–Albert Einstein

Here’s a cool resource for economic freelancers (or for anyone who is interested in real world charts and graphs): America’s past economic performance, as demonstrated by trends in Google searches, adjusted for search volume.

The first page shows a couple of fascinating charts: the first is the “Google Retail Index and Clothing Store Sales” and one called the “Auto Buyers Index.” Actual retail sales figures are added on the Retail Index chart–interesting trends here.

It’s also obvious from the Auto Buyers Index that Cash for Clunkers had a dramatic effect, as was widely reported by the news media.

You can generate all types of charts by clicking through the lists on the left sidebar. Google also invites you to download the data, search for trends, & report back your results. You can learn more about this resource here.

There’s even MORE info about this project on the Google Research Blog.

Liberty doesn’t work as well in practice as it does in speeches.

–Will Rogers

Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock.

—Will Rogers

Under Democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right.

—H.L. Mencken

“What is it about certain cities and places that fosters specific attitudes? Am I imagining that this is the case? To what extent does the infrastructure of cities shape the lives, work, and sensibilities of their inhabitants? Quite significantly, I suspect.”

Interesting thoughts on something we’ve all observed (but perhaps not fully registered) from Talking Heads’ David Byrne (who is also a wonderful writer and avid city bicyclist–check out his new book: Bicycle Diaries

Read more of this interesting piece here.