Writing and publishing articles by author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
Check out these quotes for writers (in no particular order) “It’s splendid to be a great writer, to put men into the frying pan of your imagination and make them pop like chestnuts.” -Gustave Flaubert “Story, finally, is humanity’s autobiography.” -Lloyd Alexander “Your voice dries up if you don’t use it.” -Patti Page “The problem […]
Authors use pen names for assorted reasons. Here are some that come to mind. To Hide Their Identity Sometimes an author needs to not identify themselves to protect them and their loved ones. This might be because they write about a highly volatile topic or a significantly personal one. A pen name protects them and […]
Analyze Your Short Stories In my post “Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long,” I talked about the benefits of writing short stories. I’ve catalogued mine and analyzed them. You should analyze your short stories too. Here Are My Results So far, I’ve written 23 short stories (plus one that turned into a novella). […]
Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long In “How to Write a Book,” I posted that the best approach for aspiring book authors is to start out with shorter pieces. No one wants to hear that, but it’s true. Shorter pieces let writers experiment and learn—quickly. Feedback is fast. And in an online world, […]
In 2016 I posted “Recommended Podcasts for Writers and Content Producers.” Though I’ve made some updates to my writing podcasts post over the years, it’s time to make a new post. Of that list of 17 podcasts, six have ceased and one I stopped listening to. That means 10 have remained, some of which have […]
Writers are often unsure of how to format thoughts in their writing. Thoughts are best put in italic and do not include quotes. For example: I hope this description makes sense to you. An attribute tag, such as “he thought” is not used, since the person doing the thinking should be obvious from the context. […]
Some writers post new material on social media. Others repeat content from their blog. I do neither. Here’s why. Republishing the whole post isn’t a good idea because it repeats content, and search engines dismiss duplicate content. And I feel it’s too time-consuming and therefore not a good use of my time to write new […]
Even though it took me a while to call myself a writer, I’ve been writing most of my life. In high school, I learned I had a knack for it, and it’s been part of almost every job I’ve had. Although I’ve had some great jobs, my work as a full-time writer is the most […]
Here are the pros and cons of indie publishing versus going with a traditional publisher: Traditional Publishing Pros and Cons: In most cases, traditional publishing requires less of the author, should result in more book sales over a wider distribution, and carries the prestige of a publisher selecting your book for publication. The negatives include […]
I’ve paid to enter some contests. I don’t mind it when I win, but it’s a double hit when I don’t. I’ve paid from $1 to $20, and each time they gave a compelling reason why I needed to compensate them to consider my work. And each time I’ve felt duped afterward. Going forward, the […]