How Trump and Clinton prepare for debates…and how you can also prepare.

03 Oct, 2016

I had no idea that Barack Obama curses before public speaking. I think I know at whom he curses before going on stage. I was as shocked to read that as I would have been to hear that 1950s-'60s movie star and cinematic symbol of chastity and virtue Doris Day cursed before going before the cameras. But I doubt that she did so. Doris Day? Fuhgeddaboudit! Anyhow, here's an article about how the current Democratic and Republican presidential candidates prepare for debates. It contains tips and advice you might find useful if you're faced with delivering a speech or engaging in a debate. Enjoy the public speaking article.

How Trump and Clinton prepare for debates…and how you can also prepare.

October 3, 2016May 9, 2025

I had no idea that Barack Obama curses before public speaking. I think I know at whom he curses before going on stage. I was as shocked Read More...

Stories are never too long or too short. They’re too interesting or too boring.

William Shawn

It is only natural to pattern yourself after someone. But you can’t just copy someone. If you like someone’s work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to.

Bob Dylan

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

Thomas Jefferson

You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.

Jodi Picoult

The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book.

Mickey Spillane

Do you know what a playwright is? A playwright is someone who lets his guts hang out on the stage.

Edward Albee

Every writer with half a brain knows to surround himself or herself with editors who are smarter, far more articulate and infinitely better looking.

Chris Claremont

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

E. L. Doctorow

Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk — away from any open flames — to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.

George Singleton

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.

Stephen Wright

I get up in the morning, torture a typewriter until it screams, then stop.

Clarence Budington Kelland

Critics are people who sit on the mountaintop and look down on the battlefield. When the fighting is finished, they take it upon themselves to come down from the mountain and shoot the survivors.

Robert Altman

I have a structured songwriting process. I start with the music and try to come up with musical ideas, then the melody, then the hook, and the lyrics come last.

John Legend

A writer is a world trapped in a person.

Victor Hugo

Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river.

Lisa See

The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.

John Campbell

Do not place a photograph of your favorite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

Roddy Doyle

I write the last line, and then I write the line before that. I find myself writing backwards for a while, until I have a solid sense of how that ending sounds and feels. You have to know what your voice sounds like at the end of the story, because it tells you how to sound when you begin.

John Irving

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the Internet.

Zadie Smith

It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil, trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.