Preachers and Preaching by Martyn Lloyd-Jones is an excellent resource from the straight-talking London preacher from the middle of the 1900's. The Doctor gives helpful advice that is not only practical, but that is also spiritually astute.
Here are some selected passages:
On time:
There are many dangers in the life of a minister. ... One of these is the danger of just frittering away your time, particularly in the morning. You start with the newspaper, and it is very easy to spend a great deal of time on this, quite unconsciously. Then there are weekly magazines and journals, and interruptions on the telephone and so on. You may well find that your morning has gone whether you are working in your home or in an office in your church. So I felt always, and increasingly with the years, that one of the great rules for a preacher is to safeguard the mornings. p 166
On reading and study:
Time must be found for reading ... There is no greater mistake than to think that you finish theology when you leave a seminary. ... I have known men in the ministry, and men in various other walks of life who stop reading when they finish their training. They think they have acquired all they need; they have their lecture notes, and nothing further is necessary. The result is that they vegetate and become quite useless. Keep on reading; and read the big works. p 177
On 'purple patches':
[Thomas Goodwin] was asked to preach the University (Cambridge) sermon, and, of course, instinctively, he began to preparing and writing in the classical manner which he had so admired. He produced a great sermon with wonderful purple patches and literary embellishments which thrilled him and moved him as he thought of them and wrote them. But the Spirit of God, and his own conscience, began to work in him and he went through a terrible struggle. ... Thomas Goodwin now realised that he had to preach to those servant-maids as well as to the others, and he knew that these purple patches would not only mean nothing to these ordinary people but might be a hindrance. What should he do? At last, with his heart almost bleeding and breaking, he excised the purple patches from the sermon and never delivered them. p 218
On quotes:
Do not try to think of quotations. ... In other words, only use a quotation when it comes to your mind and when it seems to you to be inevitable. Or, if you like, only use a quotation when it seems to say perfectly the thing that you were trying to say. p 221
On altar-call decisions:
I have heard evangelists say that they never expect more than one-tenth [of those who come forward] to hold. ... The practice seems to have introduced a new kind of mentality, a carnality expressing itself as an unhealthy interest in numbers. ... I believe that the minister should always make an announcement in some shape or form that he is available to talk to anybody who wants to talk to him about their soul and its eternal destiny. pp 280-2
An excellent book - well written, thoughtful, and applicable.
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