Pat Iyer’s Blog
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Coeditors of a book: Tips for Success
What does it take for coeditors to work together well? I've worked with coeditors on several of my textbooks. The Role of Coeditors Once your plan for your book includes more than about 12 chapters you will usually need help from a coeditor. A coeditor needs to be...
Avoid the Sea of Publishing Scams
Have you written a book? Are you thinking of publishing one? Are you aware of the publishing scams? The desire to see your work published is a passionate one. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous individuals and entities will exploit your desire, take your money, and...
Filler Phrases Freedom: How to Make Your Writing Lean
You've heard people use filler phrases when they talk: "Um", "Well", "Really", or "Like". Are you guilty of using filler phrases in your writing? I heard about a writer who set the goal of removing one unnecessary word from each paragraph of her book. At last count,...
Can You Make Me Eager to Read Your Article?
You can write the best story ever told, but without a good headline, I won't read your article. Experts estimate that 80 to 90 percent of people who read a headline won’t go on to read an article because the headline didn’t grab their attention. That doesn’t mean that...
Make Your Writing Lean
Bloated writing, like a bloated stomach after a big meal, can put you to sleep. Is your writing lean? Have you ever read a piece of writing that bored you without your knowing why? You started reading it because you had an interest in the subject, but you found...
What To Expect When You Work with a Ghostwriter
When you think about having a book written for you, you may ask: “How do they do it? How does someone who doesn’t know me write a book that sounds as if I wrote it?” This important question underlines the importance of choosing a talented, empathetic ghostwriter. In...
How to Use Lists in Your Writing
Why should you use a list? Lists improve the readability of your material. They make it easy to cluster information in a format that can be quickly scanned. Also, lists are useful for breaking up a long sentence into a more reader friendly format. Readers appreciate a...
Tips for Natural Sounding Writing
How can you achieve natural sounding writing? Imagine you are in a restaurant with a friend. You’ve just seen a technical report you want to share with your friend. As you explain the results, your friend asks questions which takes you deep into the conversation and...
How to Edit Your Own Work
You’ve written a report, speech, newsletter, or other document. You’ve put a lot of time and thought into it. You have an investment in it. Now you need to edit it. You can find lots of practical advice about how to edit your work. However, none of these suggestions...
My first article: how I got published
Having articles published is a definite boost to a career. Getting your first article published stimulates your writing efforts and establishes more credibility with your clients. My first article I always enjoyed reading books and creative writing classes I took in...
Recent Posts
The Art of Editing: Refining Your Written Work
As a writer, you’ve invested considerable time and effort in crafting your document, be it a report, speech, newsletter, or …Read More »
Make the Most of Your Writing Time
One of the most frequent complaints of my writing students and clients is “I don’t have enough time. How do …Read More »
Inner Critic or Inner Guide: Who is Talking
At any stage of my writing, I may hear an inner critic, a voice that says things like, “No, that …Read More »
What’s Your Type?
When I write about errors in manuscripts, I usually focus on punctuation, spelling, and grammar because those are my favorite …Read More »
Readers Make Better Writers
I always loved reading more than almost any other activity. It’s no coincidence that my siblings are also avid readers. …Read More »