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

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.

Post number one. Hi there!

November 19, 2015June 6, 2026

Welcome to the Ghostwriters Central blog. This blog will be authored by me, for the time being. We do hope you will find it to be Read More...

The road to ignorance is paved with good editors.

George Bernard Shaw

Anecdotes don’t make good stories. Generally, I dig down underneath them so far that the story that finally comes out is not what people thought their anecdotes were about.

Alice Munro

In Hollywood, the woods are full of people that learned to write but evidently can’t read. If they could read their stuff, they’d stop writing.

Will Rogers

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

William Shawn

If you start with a bang, you won’t end with a whimper.

T.S. Eliot

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

Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.

Michael Burke

A writer without interest or sympathy for the foibles of his fellow man is not conceivable as a writer.

Joseph Conrad

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

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

Clarence Budington Kelland

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.

William Faulkner

If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer. You’re a waiter.

Dan Poynter

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

Mickey Spillane

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

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 do not over-intellectualize the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.

Tom Clancy

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

Reading and weeping opens the door to one’s heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one’s soul.

M. K. Simmons

I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.

Roald Dahl

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.