If you want a good title, you need it before you start, when you’re pumped up with hope. If you look for it afterwards, you end up thinking like a headline-writer. If Victor Hugo had waited until he’d finished Notre-Dame de Paris, he would have ended up calling it I’ve Got a Hunch.

Also: possibly the only article about writing for the screen that references John Arne Riise.

I’m taking a hiatus from speaking in 2011 to recharge and focus on other things, but thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned from speaking over the last several years, from someone who isn’t a naturally-born speaker or expert in speaking, hates flying, and generally get anxious about combining those two activities.

Some of the follow points might be obvious for some, but they’re all important bits I try and keep in mind before every talk. I’ve learned most of them from other speakers, articles and advice from colleagues and event organizers.

At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is to figure out what makes you happy and then do the hell out of that thing. You’ll probably do a great job at whatever it is you’ve decided to do. Hopefully, your passion for your work will result in positive outcomes that benefit you and your community. Maybe we’ll all luck out and the job that makes you happy ends up benefitting a large number of people. If not: hey, at least you’re not miserable.

The key thing to understand is that the rules of SEO aren’t magic or arbitrary. They’re based on the goals of a search engine, which is to find relevant results. Relevance implies genuineness, and genuineness implies trust. So, shockingly, you should try to make your site’s content trustworthy, genuine and relevant. All of the rules have come about due to their utility in detecting those three positive metrics. Good SEO is a by-product of not being a dick on the internet.

Below are twenty-five pieces of vital information that every man over 14 in the Western world should know. Every man. No excuses. Seriously. Seriously.

1. Mark Farrington, my first writing teacher at the Johns Hopkins MA Program in Writing in the fall of 1998, suggested we should start sending our stories out “when they are as good as we can make them.” That may seem obvious, but I’ve found it to be a great rule of thumb. Perhaps you’ve had several rounds of feedback, you’ve revised, and while you still see problems, you don’t know how to fix them. When you’ve taken a story as far as you can on your own, send it out.

I’ve hired my fair share of people now (fired them too) and having been through the ringer of young-person-just-starting-out close to a half dozen times, I figure I know it better than just about anyone. You’re scared but overconfident, clueless but eager to learn, just glad to be given a shot. I tried to think of a few things I wish I’d been told when I was just starting, things that would have saved me from screwing up. These are the things I still tell myself.

This is Robert Krulwich speaking to our generation, telling us how things have changed, telling us to be hopeful, telling us how to win.

I’ve chosen to deal with my anxiety by tapping into the wisdom of the hive mind. I recently sent email to the authors in my social network and asked them, “What do you wish you’d known about the process of writing a book that you didn’t know before you did it?”

As a general rule, avoid Foo in 24 hours books – they are a waste of your money and time. They are usually awfully written, and a sketchy treatment makes most of topics that you are interested in a lot MORE difficult to learn. Don't concentrate on any specific frameworks or languages – it's perfectly OK to learn these on the go (if you work as a programmer your job will simply force you to do it). Learn the science.

THE DETECTIVE story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more — it is a sporting event. And for the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws — unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding; and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. Herewith, then, is a sort Credo, based partly on the practice of all the great writers of detective stories, and partly on the promptings of the honest author's inner conscience. To wit:

I recent began to wonder: What did the Kenyon grads think when they heard Wallace deliver it on that hot Ohio morning?  I was curious whether Wallace’s speech seemed important in real time or whether it was hard to perceive amid the hurrah of a graduation weekend.  This is a question to ask of any event that grows in significance over time, but it seemed particularly relevant here given the themes Wallace spoke about.  “The most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see,” Wallace said in a slow, even voice.  I wondered if this same idea might have described the reception of Wallace’s speech as it echoed over the gathered crowd.

From time to time, I (not very earnestly) entertain the idea of releasing a book of "rules for writers" that would be deliberately terrible from start to finish, in order to nip the careers of aspiring rivals in the bud. My advice would be designed to exacerbate perfectionism, insisting on absolute silence, the perfect desk chair and specific brands of high-end stationery; it would urge people to wait for the Muse, and to compare their work, in detail, to those of the authors they most admire. Finally, in a Simon Heffer-ish touch, it would pompously assert the absolute unacceptability of certain grammatical forms, even though they're used by everyone from Shakespeare to Ian McEwan.

But learning to master writing is more than the matter of learning to use the right tools. From where I sit — and I often sit in front of a keyboard and monitor — writing is its own reward. As I have learned from writing my own books, it is far too rewarding to let fear of it deprive you from enjoying it.

Lately the trickle of wallet inquiries we regularly receive has turned into a torrent. What precipitated this trend I cannot say, but there can be only one appropriate response: a Great Wallet Roundup.

No matter how long I work as a journalist, I remain a total sucker for books that purport to teach you how to be a writer. Apparently, I believe I’m going to discover the killer secret — the brilliant time-management technique, the perfect piece of writing software, the exact brand of lever-arch file — that will destroy my procrastination and insecurities forever. There’s a problem, though, with books called things like How To Be An Amazingly Successful And Critically Acclaimed Writer In Ten Easy Steps: almost without exception, they’re written by people you’ve never heard of — people who don’t appear to have achieved much commercial or critical success at all. Perhaps you can spot the contradiction here?

We hope we can illuminate why W3Schools is a troublesome resource, why their faulty information is a detriment to the web, and what you (and they) can do about it.

Merlin: The Grandaddy of writing-as-craft books. Learn how making prose is like building furniture. You’re an engineer of words. Friend, you’ll close this book with a new obsession for tight and precise prose writing. I don’t pull it off every day (let alone every sentence), but it’s damned sure on my mind all the time.

Merlin: Just so very, very wonderful. Heartfelt, funny, and desperately useful, if only for learning “The Shitty First Draft.”

Merlin: Failures in non-fiction writing are almost always failures of process (especially during pre-writing). A must-buy for journalists (and serious bloggers).

Merlin: Shut off your monkey mind, get past discursive thinking, and keep that hand in motion. Like meditation, writing is a practice. You do it because you do it, that is why you do it.

Merlin:  Sounds like a BS title, but it’s not. Again: process. How to think and when. How to approach a daunting project sensibly by “parking on a downhill slope.”

By Stephen King; content overlaps with 'On Writing'.

When people think about how to start screencasting, they often forget that screencasting is not only a very interesting way of showing something quickly, comprehensibly and easily; it’s also a way of advertising their products. It’s a shame to see how many websites out there lack a beautiful looking screencast, as this can make products look a lot more attractive to potential customers.

It’s hard to write well. But it may be even harder to simply keep writing; which, by the way, is the only way to write better. In the meantime, aim for five pages. Report your word counts. Track your rate of reading (and consume books ravenously). Teach math on the side if you have to. Whatever you need to do.

"There is no one right way to use Twitter, and you should ignore anyone who says there is. Including me." http://bit.ly/buqqic

My buds over at LIFE.com asked me to come up with a list of common mistakes folks make when starting out with a camera in their hands. Okay. No shortage of material here, right? And they came to the right source, ’cause I’ve made every mistake, basic and advanced, that one could possibly think of. Hell, I’ve even invented some mistakes. But they did a nice job, matching historical photos from the voluminous LIFE library with my ramblings. They also edited, well, some of my more irreverent language, which, this being my blog, I include below:-)

Here are the top five reasons why being a “jack of all trades,” what I prefer to call a “generalist,” is making a comeback:

This is long. I apologize. In that big advice post, I said keep one fiction and one nonfiction book on your nightstand. Nonfiction can give us the truth about what is happening in the world. Fiction can give us the truth that won’t fit in nonfiction and the truth that is happening inside of us.

Let the reader do some work. Humor works best when the reader has to connect some dots. Early in my story I made you connect the golf story to the playground story. The smarter your audience, the wider you can spread the dots. I used this method again when I said of my aborted spit-take, "I don't remember much after that." Your mind might have filled in a little scene in which, perhaps, my eyes bugged out, my cheeks went all chipmunk-like, and I fell out of my chair.

I don’t want to appear to be giving advice on something I don’t know much about, but here goes: from someone who has gained what I’d call a respectable audience and the awareness and respect of some people he admires, to people who wish for but don’t feel they have those things: all it takes is some patience (and of course effort to be great). That’s it.

RT @rob_schmitt: How do I learn to program? http://t.co/1rkOOce via @37signals

Self-actualization is a term that has been used in various psychology theories, often in slightly different ways (e.g., Goldstein, Maslow, Rogers). The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. In his view, it is the master motive—indeed, the only real motive a person has, all others being merely manifestations of it. However, the concept was brought to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled and the "actualisation" of the full personal potential takes place.

Here’s what I’ve been doing–or at least trying to do–to stay healthy and sane while working on a startup. It’s not rocket science. It may work for you, and it may not. But these strategies have been helpful for me, so I thought I’d share, in hopes that others have an easier time of it.

The Mixdown is a talk show about audio/video recording and broadcasting, featuring discussion about gear, tips, tricks, and advice. It's part education, part discussion, and part audience Q/A. Live every Friday at 2pm ET.

As some people here don’t care about making their living from the internet, I understand that this post will not be for everybody. However, if you’ve just made the leap to working for yourself, currently run your own business, or you’re looking to make your money online in the future, this article may be just what you need. Over the last 18 months of working for myself, I’ve learned a ton of things on my journey. Not every piece of advice I took on board has helped, with many ideas quickly being discarded. From reading dozens of books, speaking with hundreds of entrepreneurs, and living this life myself for a year and a half, there are a few lessons I would like to share.

The only rule in photography is that there are no rules. However, there are many composition guidelines which can be applied in almost any situation, to enhance the impact of a scene. Below are ten of the most popular and most widely respected composition 'rules'.

On March 13, 2007, I handed over the keys to my house, put my possessions in storage and headed out to travel around the world with nothing but a backpack, my laptop and a camera. Three and a half years and 70 countries later, I’ve gotten the equivalent of a Ph.D in general knowledge about the people and places of Planet Earth. Here are some of the things I’ve learned.

Anonymous asked: What advice would you give to a graphic design student?

“What I know about writing I know from having read the work of the great writers.” More on how-to culture: http://instapaper.com/ztr0me01V

Ryan's 35 lessons in 35 years is required reading if you are a man. And probably if you are a woman: http://j.mp/bzpCCY

While the general guidelines of good photography apply to every type of camera, a cameraphone does have specific features and flaws you should keep in mind when snapping. After two years of documenting scenes of my life with my phone, here are some lessons I've learned for getting better photos from your cameraphone.

RT @Dabydenko: I've never liked hemingway - give me steinbeck every day. But in four simple words, I'm inspired http://bit.ly/bp225U

RT @lauramcclureMJ: amen, sister RT @hhavrilesky Oh. My. God. This @Sugar_TheRumpus column truly is the best thing in the known universe ...

This has done the rounds today, and it is fabulous: Seven Years as a Freelance Writer, or, How To Make Vitamin Soup http://bit.ly/9UxkLz

A contradictory set of truths about books and publishing in the abstract: don’t repeat yourself, and don’t write books that are too different from one another. Other writers will pillory you for the first, and publishers will be more than happy to pigeonhole you from the moment you achieve anything like success. Blow out your advance? Great. Now write the same exact book again.

There are only two cocktails: “a slug of whiskey” and a martini. This isn’t my opinion, but the law as laid down by Bernard DeVoto in his book “The Hour,” first published in 1948 and recently reissued. It so happens that I’ve owned a copy of this book for a long time and often wondered if anyone would ever bring it back into print and whether the world would find it as engaging and infuriating as I do.

Janet Fitch is the author of "White Oleander" and "Paint it Black," and she teaches writing at USC. It seems like every time I run into her at a reading, she introduces one or two or more of her students who she has encouraged to come along, people whose work she praises. This enthusiastic engagement makes her, well, nicer than many writing teachers, and that niceness might be why she's posted a list of 10 writing tips that can help almost anyone on her blog. But the list shows that just because she's nice, she's no pushover in the classroom.

"There’s been a recent retread of the weblogging phenomenon following a few articles at PC Mag, Time, and The Morning News. After posting my own short list of things that ought to be banned from weblogs, I realized that a list of things to be encouraged would be more useful. Some people are new to weblogging. Others want to raise the bar. In the end, everybody wants better sites, and some of these suggestions might help."

RT @guardianreview: Nadine Gordimer lecturing at #Hay today. The questions she wished she'd been asked here: http://bit.ly/9pd1C0

1. Find a subject you care about
2. Do not ramble, though
3. Keep it simple
4. Have guts to cut
5. Sound like yourself
6. Say what you mean
7. Pity the readers

I've only recently heard of Frank Chimero and started reading him, but I'm delighted I have. Here he rails against our how-to culture (something I'm getting increasingly tired of) and gives us the one true piece of advice we all need: do what you're best at, and keep doing it. There are no recipes.

Questions to ask and rules of thumb to use to solve problems and be productive.

"The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day."

"Tips For Students with a Bachelors in Computer Science" - but relevant for many more.

"Great writing doesn’t typically come by chance. And in my mind, it’s an art anyone of any trade should strive to master — designers, marketers, developers, and yes, film critics."

"Slate has asked me to offer you a few words of advice—as I, too, am a procrastinator. Always have been. In college, I'd start 10-page papers after midnight on the day they were due. Half my memories of this period involve screaming at my printer to print faster, ripping the pages from its maw, and then sprinting to my professor's office with moments to spare, sweat streaming down my face."