(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

Tip 1: Vary Your Sentence Length

One sure way to put your readers to sleep is to write with constant-length sentences. Change the length for a better copy.

SHORT SENTENCE Copy:

"Times are bad. Economy's tanking. Latest figures are not good. Government published a report. It confirms the rumors. We're in a recession."

LONG SENTENCE Copy:

"We are going through some turbulent times these days. Our economy, which is supposed to be doing well according to some indicators, is showing strains of high unemployment and the effects of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The latest figures quoted in leading industry journals and publications do not instill confidence in analysts and consumers alike. The Department of Commerce has just published a White Paper citing several Wall Street observers who claimed that we are nowhere near the end of this current impasse. Whether we like to admit it or not, the facts are staring us in the face: we seem to be sliding headlong into a recession the likes of which have not been since the '30s."

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Popularity: 5% [?]

A California comedy with a heart.

Michael Douglas is “Charlie,” a jazz base player, a dreamer, and a loser who spends a few years in a mental institution for a tune-up from the neck-up.

His sixteen year old daughter Miranda ( Evan Rachel Wood) has lost half of her heart when her mom left the house years ago but she managed to learn how to take care of herself.

In a sense, father and daughter switched Emotional IQs over the intervening years – he became the child while she grew into what he should've been; the responsible one.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Helen Gurley Brown has been a force of nature in the magazine publishing circles for decades.

Her name became synonymous with the name and success of the Cosmopolitan magazine as its longtime editor. She is the author of many bestsellers, including Sex and the Single Girl.

“The Writer’s Rules: The Power of Positive Prose – How to Create It and Get It Published” is one of my favorite reference books on writing for 2 reasons:

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Popularity: 14% [?]

3:10 to Yuma tries to break the traditional Western-movie mold like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992) did. But at the end, 3:10 fails to solve one of the equations that it sets for itself in Act 1.

Basically this is another "delivering the criminal to justice" story with a "morality play" at its core.

Protagonist Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a crippled Civil War veteran and loser of a farmer who cannot even command his own son’s respect.

He emerges as an unlikely hero turning down all incentives to betray himself. He resists the easy way out and sticks with a higher principle until the bitter end.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

(President Jimmy Carter jogging. Public Domain Photo, courtesy of Wikipedia.)

My mom keeps telling me to “walk, don’t run” (which is, by the way, the title of Cary Grant’s very last movie shot in 1966).

I love my mom. But what she doesn’t know is, walking and running are like water and gasoline. They are two totally different categories of metabolic burn. Walking simply does nothing for me in terms of weight loss.

In my decade-long battle with fat, it always comes to this: I either get out and hit the pavement or watch myself turn into the Goodyear blimp, real fast.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

I’ve been renting DVDs online for quite a long while. Here is my take on how the top 4 rental options compare.

1) NETFLIX

Two words: “Forget it!”

I know how hyped up an operation Netflix is. I forgot the number of times I had to close a Netflix under-pop ad when I visit a web site. It’s been advertised and marketed like crazy. But I really think it sucks for a reason that IMHO borders on “consumer abuse” and “misrepresentation.”

Netflix promises “unlimited rentals” for the subscription category you sign up for, right? Well, think again...

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Popularity: 29% [?]

At the most fundamental level, a movie has to decide whether it’s a documentary or a dramatic work. We also have to decide whether we want to watch an educational, didactic film or a work of dramatic fiction.

Lions for Lambs fails on both levels. It’s neither one nor the other. It lectures through drama, but without teaching anything new.

Despite strong writing, directing and brilliant acting, it maintains a split-personality. It’s a film about war on terror that might have served its purpose better if delivered as a Political Science paper or a New York Times Magazine cover story.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

I heard people say I'm “lucky” because (knock on wood) I almost never had a “writer's block” throughout my career as a professional writer.

But it's not luck really. The truth is much more simple and obvious: I write only what I feel strongly about.

Sometimes I puzzle people with 800 words about a movie shot back in 1956 or 1934. Why? Because I happen to love that film with a passion, regardless of when it was shot.

If, by contrast, I try to write about anything that does not really move me, then I'm “blocked” too because then I'd be just pretending. And when I pretend, I can't write.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

(Photo: Peggy Noonan)

Here are some my favorite American journalists who rarely fail to amaze me with their wit and erudition, powerful prose, and clarity of thought.

Peggy Noonan

She writes for the Wall Street Journal. Her Friday columns is a must reading for me. She used to be Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter. A devout Catholic and a committed Republican that I trust, despite the fact that I’m neither.

Her recent comments on Hillary Clinton’s turbulent candidacy should be enough to give you a sense of her depth and brilliance as a political commentator:

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Popularity: 17% [?]

(Novelist Norman Mailer during his salad days. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Have you heard about the Justine Larbalestier Survey?

Justine Larbalestier, a novelist from Down Under, conducted his own informal survey and asked his 18 "fellow Aussies, folks from the UK, Canada and the US" how much they got for their first novel. Seven of those who responded are full-time writers.

Here are the results:

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Photo by Quarlo.com

I’m a sucker for NYC photo blogs (PBs) because I love the Big Apple but I never had the chance to live there on a long-term basis.

So NYC photo blogs are how I try to get my regular fix of things-New-Yoark.

With every photo I remember once again how much I love this sultry, chaotic, and majestic Mother of All Cities.

Here is a short list of my top favorite NYC PBs, plus another which has nothing to do with NYC but one you should really support by visiting.

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Popularity: 19% [?]