Writing and publishing articles by author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
Authors must be aware of words they overuse and that will irritate readers Every writer has words they use a lot, too often in fact. They’re called go-to words. In my fiction writing, I use a smile, nod, and sigh a lot. Too much, way too much. But I never realized this until my editor […]
Goodreads is the premier social media site for book lovers In past months we’ve covered Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. One social media option is especially tailored to writers: Goodreads. “Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations.” Goodreads turned ten this year. It has 55 million members, 1.5 billion books listed, […]
Failing to stay current on writing trends hurts writers and lessens their work It seems everything I learned in school about writing was wrong. Okay, that’s an overstatement. But many of the lessons I mastered in school no longer apply or are just plain wrong. However, I don’t think my teachers were in error over […]
If I subscribed to every email newsletter and information service that was offered me, there would not be enough time to read them all. So when a newsletter offer appears in my in box, which frequently happens, I give it only the briefest of consideration before pressing delete. Last week, however, I paused long enough […]
Though using a pattern to inform our books’ structure has merit, it may lead us to a troublesome end There are multiple guides we can follow to properly structure the books we write. Perhaps the most common is the three-act structure, but there are many others as well. There’s enough to make me dizzy, so […]
With no shortage of social media platforms to consider, several may warrant attention So far we’ve talked about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. But there are hundreds of other social media platforms to consider. While some platforms are obscure, others garner much more attention. Though some of these social media outposts are worthy of consideration, […]
The list of advice for writers is long, seemingly more than is humanly possible to accomplish Advice for writers is never is a short supply. Just when we regularly carve out time to write, another requirement piles on our plate and then a third and a fourth. Before long we grow overwhelmed and want to […]
It’s hard not to compare ourselves with other writers and dangerous when we do As a teenager, I remember reading the book I’m Okay—You’re Okay by Thomas Harris. As I recall, the book explained that we consider ourselves in one of two ways, either as being okay or as not being okay. Conversely, we judge […]
Writers struggle to find time to write, but the solution is simple I commonly hear writers complain that they don’t have time to write. Some say “no time” and others say “not enough time.” Time, it seems, stands as the enemy of writing. Yet the fact remains that everyone has twenty-four hours in their day. […]
Pinterest is a quick way to share images and connect with like-minded people So far we’ve talked about Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn as possible social media platforms for authors. What about Pinterest? Of the four of them, I’ve done the least amount of work with Pinterest. Maybe that’s because I’m a guy and most Pinterest […]