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“Writing, when properly managed, (as you may be sure I think mine is) is but a different name for conversation.” - Laurence Sterne

While I don’t claim to be the world’s greatest writer, one of my strengths as a writer is the ability to write in a fairly conversational style.

I might not write like everyone talks, but I write like I talk, and I think it creates a more welcoming style of writing.

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They’re questions that most bloggers will face after they’ve been blogging for a little while and perhaps have evolved or consciously changed their writing style: Do you go back through your archives and weed out the posts that no longer fit your blog’s style? Or do you leave them as a way to show your blog’s growth and evolution?

To cull the archives or not to cull?

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“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” - Jack London

No matter how much you love writing, there will always be days when you need inspiration from one muse or another.

In fact, I would argue that inspiration is not just a desirable thing, it’s an integral part of the writing process.

Every writer needs inspiration to produce inspired writing. And sometimes, it can come from the unlikeliest sources.

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If you’re interested in learning more about my intentions with this blog, Write To Done, head on over to Allena Tapia’s interview with me at freelance.about.com:

Leo Babauta: Master Blogger Targets the Writing World 

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Editor’s note: This guest post is from FekketCantenel, dreaded she-raptor moderator from the Zen Habits forums.

I have yet to read an all-dialog novel. In fiction, narration is critical for establishing many elements, including scenery, character appearance, and action.

Despite (or perhaps because of) its importance, smooth narration is one of the hardest skills for an aspiring writer to master. It’s easy to get lost in long, flowery paragraphs of clever prose stuffed with adjectives, adverbs, undecipherable in-jokes, and repetition.

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