Once you hit your creative flow, working on your manuscript can be a blast. But sometimes, the muse just doesn’t want to come. Well, forget the muse–you can get the creative juices flowing all on your own. I’ve spent five years in the creative industry, and when a client deadline hits, you need something to show them whether… Continue Reading »
Writing
In December, I had the opportunity to attend the Random House Open House. It was a fabulous event, providing valuable information to writers and readers alike. One of the highlights of the open house, though, was a panel discussion with Ballantine publishing team behind Justin Cronin’s bestselling book THE PASSAGE–and now the sequel THE TWELVE. This… Continue Reading »
Writing
Few writers can thrive in isolation. Sooner or later, we all need a little boost in our writing, some external structure to help us make the jump to the next level. And a writing workshop can be a great way to do that. When I use the term “writing workshop” I’m talking about a group… Continue Reading »
Writing
“Will there be a recording of the DIY MFA Online Workshop?” This was perhaps the most common question I got after the workshop this past week so I thought it would share the answer on the website today, along with the concepts that this question brought up. First, the short answer. Will there be a… Continue Reading »
Writing
Whether you love children’s books or you haven’t read a kid’s book since you we’re a kid yourself, , we writers have one thing in common: we were all kids once. At some point in our lives, we all had that experience of finding a book that captured us in a profound way and chances… Continue Reading »
Writing
Last week we talked about why writers should write guest posts and five different strategies where guest posts can writers build their audience. Today we’ll go over how to navigate this process of pitching and writing guest posts including the before, during and after. The process might seem a little intimidating but once you’ve done… Continue Reading »
Writing
With 2012 drawing to a close, we wanted to share a few of our favorite articles from DIY MFA with you. But before we get to that, here’s a recap of how DIY MFA works. While in graduate school, I discovered that the typical Creative Writing MFA boils down to one simple formula. Some graduate… Continue Reading »
Writing
Recently, I had a chance to visit the North Pole and chat it up with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Let me tell you, that is one optimistic little squirt if I ever saw one. And a lot of his advice applies really well to writing. Here are some super-secret tips he shared about how he… Continue Reading »
Writing
Every writer wants something. Maybe it’s an extra hour in the day so you can be more productive. Maybe it’s an extra-special fountain pen or notebook. Maybe it’s having the cat stop chewing on the corners of your manuscript. We don’t ask for much, but when it comes right down to it, the thing all… Continue Reading »
Writing
Mr. Claus is a wise man. In fact, when it comes to important things like making toys or writing books (which are almost the same thing, really) he is the head honcho, zen master, Dumbledore and Obi-Wan Kenobi all rolled into one. I myself had the privilege of spending some quality time with him at… Continue Reading »
Writing