Episode 56: Writing Literary Mysteries – Interview with Tana French

Hi there Word Nerds! I’m so excited to share today’s interview with bestselling author Tana French and her process in crafting series and writing literary mysteries. Tana French has been called “one of the most talented crime writers alive” by the Washington Post. With four bestselling, critically acclaimed, and award-winning novels in print worldwide, she… Read more »

Writing for Kids: The Low-Down on Lexile Levels

Some people imagine writing for kids and immediately picture Dr. Suess or baby board books. But the good news is you don’t have to use simple words to write for elementary kids if that’s not your style.  Go ahead and use rich, succulent vocabulary and varied sentence structure—please! There are plenty of kids who are… Read more »

#5OnFri: Military History Is Not As Dusty As It Seems

Military history is often an underappreciated genre supposedly filled with stuffy biographies, or a litany of dates and battle names. When I took on the project of writing Flying Colors, even I approached the genre with the same perspective. As I would with any new project, I began with exploring possibilities and took to reading…. Read more »

ThrillerFest: Bestselling Authors Talk Character Development

Character development was widely (if unsurprisingly) regarded as one of the foundational pillars of writing a good story among the many top-selling authors present at this year’s ThrillerFest. In fact, “character” was the first of Steve Berry’s “6 C’s of Story Structure.” As Dale Brown said, “What is character? The motivations that drive the story …… Read more »

Episode 55: DIY MFA Radio One-Year Anniversary Show!

Hello Word Nerds! Welcome to very special episode of DIY MFA Radio. Exactly one year ago, Elisabeth Kauffman (our podcast producer) and I released the very first episode of DIY MFA Radio into the world. In this episode, she and I celebrate the show’s one-year anniversary with an interview, only now the tables are turned. Usually it’s… Read more »

Developing Themes In Your Stories: Part 4 – Dialogue

So far in Developing Themes In Your Stories, we’ve covered character arcs, the story premise, and external conflict, which are all important building blocks for stories. Dialogue, however, is more of an interior design element. It adds color and life to a story and aids in the overall delivery. It’s also an excellent method for… Read more »

#5OnFri: 5 Suggestions for Becoming an Excellent Writer

The blogosphere is full of advice for writers about self-promotion, building online relationships, self-branding, creating a platform, and more. But the truth is, if you ask most agents and editors what they’d most like to see from a new writer, the answer is almost always, “Great writing.” With that in mind, here are five ways to pursue excellence. 1…. Read more »