Once at a writers’ conference, I met with one of the speakers. I asked if he would provide feedback on an article I wrote. He readily agreed and carefully read my composition. After a few minutes, he informed me I had incorrectly formatted my dash. That was his only criticism. Then he listed what he […]
I struggle with spelling. I always have and despite some improvement as I write more, I fear I always will. I suspect the root cause of this dilemma is that when I read longer words, I don’t look at all its letters, but merely the first few, along with the overall shape and length of […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. During uncertain economic conditions, it is critical for healthcare call centers to explore ways to bolster their revenue stream or insure their ongoing existence. One option is to collaborate with another call center or health organization towards their mutual benefit, such as a medical answering service working with a nurse […]
Last month I mentioned that I entered a writing contest, my first one. I opted to enter this particular contest simply because it would not require a great deal of time or effort. It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s that if it required writing a short story or essay, I would be hardpressed to invest […]
Over the years I have written many formal papers, including two theses and two dissertations. In doing so, I have been required to follow various writing guidelines, such as the Chicago Manual Style, the MLA (Modern Language Association) style, and now “Turabian.” Nicknamed after its author, Kate L. Turabian, the book’s real title is “A […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD This week I received my quarterly health insurance bill. Boy, was I in for a shock! It showed a 49 percent increase in my premium. Convinced it was in error, I naively called the company’s call center to get it corrected. The rep was nonchalant about the whole thing, acting […]
Have you ever read an article and wondered about the author’s gender? I have; then I check the byline only to be stymied with an indeterminate first name, such as “Terry” or a “Lynn” or merely their first and second initials. Towards that end, I recently stumbled upon an interesting website, The Gender Guesser. The […]
This week I received my quarterly health insurance bill. Boy, was I in for a shock. It showed a 49% increase in my premium. Convinced it was in error, I naively called the company’s call center to get it corrected. The rep was nonchalant about the whole thing, acting as though a 49% increase was […]
Last week I blogged about attending the ACW Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Coming up is another conference: Breathe Christian Writers Conference. I am in much anticipation of this event—and have been for the past year. I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s conference and heartily recommend it this year. For 2011, Breathe will be October 14 […]
Last weekend I attended the Christian Writers Conference in Grand Rapids Michigan. It was my second time at that particular conference, with last year being my first writing conference ever. Last year, I was the proverbial deer caught in headlights. I was overwhelmed with how a writing conference functions and the voluminous information—much of it […]