Creating characters in our books is never entirely straightforward, and so many are influenced by our own lives and the people in them; one might think it would make writing them easier, but that’s not always the case. There are so many reasons for starting over in life, and they all come with their own… Read more »
It would have been much easier—at least, from the point of view of research—to write a novel about the life of painter Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun. Le Brun’s surviving output is extensive. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York did a massive exhibition of her work in 2016. To top it off, she left… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Mike Trigg. We’ll be talking about the intricacies of Silicon Valley and his book Bit Flip. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our… Read more »
Writers have vivid imaginations, so I am asking you to use this creative gift and imagine, for a moment, they nominated you for a Nobel Prize in Literature. It’s a stretch, but play along so I can make my point. You did not take the prize but are gracious and want to congratulate the winner…. Read more »
As I write this article, I am in the company of my two spider plants. They live in a corner where they get some light from the overhead tape LEDs when I work during the day. My office does not have a window for them to receive direct daylight. They are surviving but not necessarily… Read more »
Well, it took me a couple of years, but I found more author sleuths for you! This time, however, I mixed in some sleuths who, while famous, aren’t authors or at least aren’t famous because of any books they wrote. It turns out I used up most of the author sleuths in my first installment,… Read more »
I live in a house built in the 1800’s, so you’d think it would be easy for me to imagine the life of the 19th century character in my new novel Long Shadows. Tom Smiley is now a ghost in his boyhood home of the same vintage who is so deeply scarred by his time… Read more »
Time management is an important skill that can be difficult to achieve for authors. You can’t just hope it will happen, you need to work on it. This can be difficult when you have a busy schedule and you’re trying to balance work, school, extracurricular activities, and family. Fortunately, there is an alternative to traditional… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Kathryn Holmes. We’ll be talking about making the transition from YA to a chapter books series and her book Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast… Read more »
Welcome back, poets! In my last post, I talked about confessional poetry—a brief history, defining characteristics, and a couple exercises to get you started writing some confessional poetry of your own. Today, I’d like to talk about poetry of witness, a mode that I’d argue is a close cousin of the confessional (with some key… Read more »
