Superheroes are not just for kids anymore, if they ever really were. With the popularity of the Marvel movies and television shows, people in capes and spandex out to save or rule the world have definitely gone mainstream. As a lifelong comic book reader and superhero story fan, I couldn’t be happier about that. … Read more »
Hello and thank you for joining me today! Today’s episode is all about the seven essentials for a writer’s education. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while, and after I wrote this article a few weeks ago about my philosophy of teaching writing, I thought it was time to share these seven essentials… Read more »
Writing groups take many shapes and sizes. Frequency of meetings, general purpose, size, and requirements all vary from one group to another. Many writing groups exist for more than manuscript exchanges, special events, and critiques. I found myself leading the charge in organizing a writing group in which the members were interested in readings and… Read more »
Series are a big business these days. If you can hook the reader in with the first book, then you’ve got a built-in base of sales for the next two (or three or more) books. Before you start writing a series (or further developing your current one), here are five tips to keep in mind…. Read more »
April is poetry month and today I read So, You Want to Be a Writer? by Charles Bukowski. This might just be my favorite poem of all time about writing. Except maybe for this one and this other one. (But I digress.) Anyway hop on over and read the Bukowski poem right now. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Great, you’re back. Why did… Read more »
Hey word-nerd! Welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio. Today I’m so excited to host Stuart Horwitz on the show. Stuart is someone who is as excited about connecting with writers and helping them reach their goals as I am. We’ll be talking about planning your novel and how to plot without a formula…. Read more »
When you’re writing a story, how often do you think about theme? It’s OK if your answer is, “Not often.” That was mine last year when a friend asked me about themes in my fantasy novel. Fortunately I found a few, but only after paying close attention to the story. Which got me thinking: Even… Read more »
I’ve submitted to writing contests every so often for the past few years, and honestly, I’ve always found it to be a pretty intimidating process. You know what I’m talking about: I search through dozens (hundreds?) of listings until I find one that fits, Google the judges and read the previous winner’s work, then shell… Read more »
Hello and welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! This is Part 2 of my interview with Literary Agent Jeff Kleinman, a founding partner of Folio Literary Management, and my awesome agent. In this episode, Jeff and I will look at two more query letters and break them down line-by-line so you’ll see exactly what… Read more »
I can credit my local writing group with a lot of things: Teaching me craft, encouraging me to write, critiquing my work, and convincing me to pitch my book. And now, I don’t think it’s too much to credit them with also getting me an agent. Yes, I wrote the book. Yes, I edited it… Read more »
