28: Share the Book in You With The World - a podcast by Melvin Varghese, Ph.D.

Welcome! My guest today is Nick Pavlidis, who is a husband, father, attorney, blogger, podcaster, author, and a friend of mine. Nick conducts two successful podcasts: “Five Minutes with Dad,” and “Confessions of a Terrible Husband.” As an outgrowth of his blogs and podcasts, Nick has written a book, Confessions of a Terrible Husband: Lessons Learned from Lumpy Couch. Nick is here to talk about the writing process because you never know when you may have a book that needs to be written!

Nick’s inspiration for writing came from the realization that he was “a terrible husband.” Ironically, he THOUGHT he was doing everything right for his family, but realized he wasn’t focusing on the right things. Nick says of his family: “I was taking FROM them much more than I was providing FOR them by working so much.” Nick’s book is the process he undertook to focus on improving his marriage and family life.

He shares the following tips for someone undertaking such a vulnerable writing topic:


Consider the “other” person in your relationship and their feelings.

Be open, honest, and RESPECTFUL.

Determine your mindset, perspective, and ideal reader. Nick says he wrote “to my best friend with my mother listening.”

Write with this question in mind, “What can I do to improve my relationship?”

Nick found it helpful to write in “sprints.” He wrote for blocks of time over a short period, and then took a couple of weeks off.


Nick shares details about the following aspects of the writing process:


Organization---Nick found it worked best for him to write huge sections then organize it later.

Environment---Nick found the perfect environment for his writing at a local McDonald’s. No kidding! Listen to find out why this worked so well for him!

Inspiration---Nick found his inspiration through talking to older couples who endured life’s struggles in their marriage.

Perspective---You can’t write to “everybody,” but you have to visualize that person or type of person to whom you’re writing.

Purpose---You will connect best with readers through a single focus and purpose.

Voice---Even though Nick had written countless legal documents and papers in his career, THIS kind of writing was very different. Find out what helped him develop his conversational tone.


I hope you will join us for these topics and so much more from Nick! He tells us about his favorite software package for writing and how that helped him in the process. Whether you think you may ever write a book or not, Nick has great tips for everyone. Join us!

Links and Resources:

http://www.aterriblehusband.com (Aterriblehusband.com ) ( Nick’s website and podcast)

Further episodes of Selling the Couch

Further podcasts by Melvin Varghese, Ph.D.

Website of Melvin Varghese, Ph.D.