By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I recently bought a laptop and included a carrying case with my order. There would be two shipments, first the case and a week later, the laptop. I was given shipping dates for both. The case arrived a day before it was promised, which impressed me. I like to say, […]
I attended my first writer’s conference over two years ago. Aside from the presenters, not one attendee had published a book. Some were talking about it, others were working on it, and a few were seeking an agent, but no one had published anything beyond an article. How discouraging. No one had a success story […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It was a lazy summer afternoon, a Friday. Things were a bit slow at the office and upper management had all left to get an early jump on their weekend. I, being a front-line manager, did not have that luxury. Besides, I had work to complete before the weekend. My […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It’s been said Gene Roddenberry pitched the original Star Trek TV show as “a western in outer space.” I can appreciate the simplicity of that statement, but think it’s a bit off the mark. However, that would’ve been perfect for the TV show Firefly. Firefly truly was a western in […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Although I live in a rural area, my immediate surroundings are not; my house is in a subdivision. Even so, wildlife abounds. During the non-snowy months, at any given time I can, look out my office window and see at least one animal and usually more. I’ve spent the last […]
A couple of years ago I went on a 24-hour prayer retreat. This was a time of relative silence, with no Internet, no computer, no cell phone, and no television; there would be no technology to distract me. I did take a couple of books to read, my Bible, my journal, and the expectation it […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I was quite skeptical about “gamification,” the use of gaming concepts to motivate desirable behavior among employees or customers. Playing “games” at work, I reasoned, would lower productivity and decrease profitability. And although applying gamification to customers might result in a short-term increase in brand involvement or purchases, I doubted […]
In past posts, we talked about the importance of watching out for words that can mean opposite things, words with confusing meanings, and slang. Another consideration is clichés. A cliché is an overused phrase or idea. Initially, it may have been a colorful word combination, but with excessive use and abuse, it has become trite. […]
Workshop Offered for New Writers, Those Considering a Writing Career, and Writers Who Want to Breathe New Life into Their Work Mattawan, Michigan, Aug 21, 2011—Author Peter DeHaan will be speaking at the upcoming Breathe Christian Writers Conference taking place on October 12 and 13 in Dutton Michigan, just a couple miles from the Grand […]
I’ve had several posts about word choices: Commonly Confused Words, Same Word – Opposite Meaning, and Confusing Words. Next up is slang. We need to use caution when interjecting slang in our writing. Slang can date our work: If our story is set in the sixties, a character might say “groovy.” However, anyone who wrote “groovy” in the sixties […]