Weekly Reading: Writing Lessons, Fears & Dreams, Google+, & More!

We've been finalizing our migration from apartment into house this week, unpacking boxes, and realizing how much stuff we really have (I'm somewhat embarrassed by this). I've been reading several books and have been working on some writing projects (both

I'm sweating while writing this. Indoors. With the air-conditioning on.

That's Tennessee in July.

We've been finalizing our migration from apartment into house this week, unpacking boxes, and realizing how much stuff we really have (I'm somewhat embarrassed by this).

I've been reading several books and have been working on some writing projects (both for work and personally), but I did come across some really interesting articles and sites this week that I wanted to share.

What I'm Reading This Week

Here are five links worth clicking this week:

It's Not About Engagement [Social Media] This great article at The 99% explains why social media isn't just about engagement. It's about making ideas happen. Amen and amen.

Offbeat Lessons from Three Late-Blooming Writers [Writing] Here's an excellent article from a blog I recently started following. The author explains how it's never too late to pursue your dreams, noting some extraordinary examples that you'll probably recognize.

Fears Vs. Dreams [Inspiration] This isn't an article, but a pretty cool website that logs people's tweets using the hashtag #fearsvsdreams. Read through some of these and contribute your own. (Here's mine.) This, in my opinion, is social media at its best -- giving people a voice to be honest and share with a supportive community so that together we can all make a difference.

Google Plus Invites: How to Send and Receive [Technology] I've been playing around with Google+ since I joined this new social network earlier this week. I'm loving it. It's like Facebook and Twitter combined in a lot of ways. Definitely worth checking out, if you're wanting to be an early adopter in the next potentially big thing.

This article explains how to send and receive an "invite" (technically, invites are disabled, but this is a work-around.) If you want one, send me an email, and I'll do my best to help you as I'm able.

Four Secrets to Dynamic Communication [Communication] This is a guest post I wrote for Ken Davis and my friends at DCW, a speaking conference I attended (and highly recommend). In this post, I share what I learned from the conference, offering some takeaways for your next writing/speaking gig so that you don't bore your audience to tears.

What're you reading this week?