On Friday, we discussed Julie Powell, her blog, her book and the movie that came out of it: Julie & Julia.

Today on mediabistro.com features an interview with Powell about why she started her blog, why her blog attracted such a large following and how it helped her to become a better writer. Powell also offers five tips for developing a personal blog that will interest the public:

1. Use blogs to develop your voice and become a working writer. “Blogging was absolutely responsible for me developing my voice and becoming a working writer. I don’t know that I would have ever gotten to that place on my own.”

2. Identify a blog’s appeal, and build on content that keeps readers involved. “I saw from comments and people really getting involved in the personal aspect of the story that this is where the heart of it is — in how the food is intersecting with this particular life at this particular time. That’s what people are coming back for. That’s what creates the suspense.”

Read on for more of Powell’s tips

Read more

This week, Editor & Publisher asked readers what their favorite journalism- or newspaper-based movies were. It got us thinking. Lots of our favorite movies revolve around newspaper writers and their lives in and out of the newsroom. From Citizen Kane, to His Girl Friday, to All the President’s Men to Runaway Bride and 27 Dresses.

Magazines get a lot of play, too, as magazine offices were considered quite glamorous pre-recession. Just look at The Devil Wears Prada, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days or Confessions of a Shopaholic, to point to a few recent favs.

As journalism evolves, the journalism-related movies will evolve as well. Just look at Julie & Julia, a movie based on a book that evolved out of a blog. The movie, which opens today, is based on a book of the same name written by Julie Powell, who started a blog to track her year-long quest to cook every recipe in Julia Child‘s quintessential cook book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

Back in December 2006, Powell spoke on a mediabistro.com panel about turning blogs into books. “I got really, really lucky,” Powell said about her book deal.

“I found blogging was a really freeing medium for me,” she went on, “because of the feedback, because of the fact that I didn’t have to worry about — for me, endings are really difficult for me, and with blogs I didn’t have to worry about that.”

You can check out the whole panel, or just watch a little preview featuring Powell, here.

“Julie & Julia” is getting some good and some mixed reviews. Will you be going to see it this weekend? What are some of your favorite journalism-related movies?