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Writing and Publishing

So, You Found My Website, Which One?

Many people were amazed and impressed that my web address matches my name: PeterDeHaan.com. It is my main author website. I’ve had it for almost twenty years. When I registered it in 2000, it was not hard to procure a domain name matching one’s given name. (At the time, DeHaan.com was also available, and I […]

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Writing and Publishing

Why Every Blog Needs a Theme

This is part 3 in our continuing series on blogging. First, I shared why writers should blog, and then I gave the four elements of a post. Today’s topic is the one key thing we must do before our first post: develop a blogging theme. For my first blog Musings, I wrote about anything and […]

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Writing and Publishing

Seven Tips to Find a Mentor

A friend recently asked how to find a writing mentor. Yeah, I’d like one, too! One of my graduate classes was on mentoring, albeit focused on Millennials and spirituality. The principles I learned, however, apply to any type of mentoring, for almost any age. The reality is those good mentors are hard to find. The […]

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Writing and Publishing

What Are Your Writing Goals?

Although I do not make New Year’s resolutions, I do set annual goals. (The two are different, but I won’t go into that here.) I set personal goals, spiritual goals, financial goals, and writing goals. Not only do I form new goals, but I also review last year’s goals. Last year, I made four writing […]

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Writing and Publishing

I Blog, Therefore I Am: The Blogs of Peter DeHaan

This year, marks my sixth year of blogging, with my original blog, Musings, still online, although I’ve moved it a few times. Lately, however, it hasn’t had much activity, with my focus shifting to my other blogs. Over the years, Musings has had various taglines; here are the ones I remember: Musings have over 500 […]

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Writing and Publishing

Five Ways to Create a Legacy

I’m a movie buff, enjoying most genres and all eras, including silent movies and especially Buster Keaton films. One of them, Our Hospitality, set in 1830 Appalachia is a classic tale of boy meets girl, who only finds out too late that her family is set on killing his. Will love prevail or will their […]

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Writing and Publishing

Six Reasons Why Your Blog Needs a Reader Profile

Recently a blogging guru encouraged me to write some reader profiles for my blog. Intrigued by the exercise, I gave it some thought. Before long I had penned profiles for five types of readers for my main blog, “Pursuing Biblical God.” I edited them today and have a bit more tweaking to do, but already […]

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Writing and Publishing

Do You Write in a Spiritual Community?

As a writer, I write alone; it’s a solitary activity. So it’s good for me to periodically emerge from my self-imposed cocoon and spend time with other people—and other writers are the people who understand me best, those with who I am most comfortable to be around. I just returned from a Christian Writers conference. […]

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Writing and Publishing

The Spirituality of Writing

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 […]

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Writing and Publishing

Buy One Book, Get Two Free

At the Breathe Writers Conference, I attempted to follow my self-imposed limit of one book per conference—a practical step given my proclivity to acquire books faster than I can read them. I bought the latest book by our keynote, Caryn Rivadeneira. Her book, Grumble Hallelujah, was just released in August. I classify it as a […]