Writing and publishing articles by author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
A simple word of encouragement can mean a lot to a writer As a person who uses words to make a living, words have a great impact on me. The words of others have encouraged me—and discouraged me. Even the lack of words, the things left unsaid, can have a powerful effect—a negative effect. The […]
Remember that we write for people and not computer algorithms People have different opinions as to the ideal length of a blog post. When I first started blogging almost ten years ago, I heard you needed at least 200 words for search engines to be able to learn enough information about your post to categorize […]
Celebrate the benefits of using your voice to produce your first draft A couple of years ago I heard about authors using dictation to write the first draft of their books. Although intrigued by the idea of using speech-to-text software to write, I dismissed it as impractical. However, as more and more writers extolled the […]
We’re wise to learn what we can from other writers who have gone before us This blog is about writing and publishing. I share what I know in the posts, and you share what you know in the comments. Our monthly segment, UR Turn, allows us to focus on this. We can learn from each […]
Too many experts say writers must blog, but that may not be good advice As writers, we’re told that if we want to be successful at publishing our work, then we need an author platform. Yes, this is true. Publishers expect writers to have a platform. In fact, it seems, the platform may supersede writing […]
Being a writer requires giving up other things, and making it a priority requires sacrifice It’s been said that some people really don’t want to write, they want to have written. They want to see the results, without putting in the work. Yet writing requires effort and that effort necessitates that we prioritize the things […]
Google+ Shuts Down April 2, 2019 Google+ launched in June 2011, among much fanfare, to challenge other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Specifically, it was Google’s attempt to go head to head with Facebook. Over the years, Google+ has gone through some changes and endured much criticism, while gaining a few loyal users. […]
Authors who use dictation claim a much higher writing speed I’ve recently been experimenting with using dictation to write and bought a USB headset to reduce dictation errors. So far I’m excited about the process and anxious to get better at it. To accomplish this, I’ve bought Dragon speech recognition software and will begin using […]
A quality headset reduces dictation errors Last week I shared my first steps at using dictation as an alternative way to write. To test dictation I didn’t invest any money in software or hardware, as I merely wanted to do a proof-of-concept before I spent any money. I used Google Docs, a Chrome browser, and […]
Today’s hot writing advice may prove embarrassing in a few years I still have the mimeograph handout from high school, from oh so many years ago. The title boasts “50 Substitutes for Said.” The opening instruction says, “Both color and drama can be added to a story by using other verbs as substitutes for said.” […]