Happy New Year! Time to start fresh and get a head start on marathoning those seasons on Netflix while actively avoiding your to-do list. Procrastination is the #1 reason that people don’t complete their New Years’ Resolutions (now that I think about it, that is kind of like saying that the #1 reason you ditched… Read more »
I’m an overachiever, so it I find it easy for me to get excited about a lot of different things and pursue them relentlessly. But sometimes I lose my way. Sometimes I feel like an overwhelmed workaholic who has spread herself too thin. But refocusing trims out the unnecessary so you can concentrate fully on the… Read more »
Every month or two, DIY MFA’s Wendy Lu will be hosting “New Spin,” a column that covers everything that falls within alternative storytelling: literary mash-ups, books that put a new spin on classic stories, and “meta-books” that use new media, graphic illustrations, and interaction between words/design for an enhanced reader experience. Supernatural, eerie, weird. These… Read more »
There’s a secret that most published, self-published and otherwise noteworthy writers know. If all first-time authors knew this secret, the collective blood pressure of the writing industry would go down by about 20 percent. Here it is. Even the best writers in the world still get off track. From time to time, legitimate, professional writers… Read more »
Have you waded into the murky waters of indie publishing? You’ve probably noticed advice everywhere. Do this. Don’t do that. No wait, do the other thing. You’ve spent a year, or two, or ten, crafting words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs. Angsting over every detail. Now it’s time to hit that giant shiny PUBLISH button…. Read more »
#askbecca: Most of my writing now is news articles about video games, but I guess I have a hard time consolidating “professionalism” and “goofiness.” How do you let your voice shine through when it might be more appropriate to tone it down? – Cooper S. There’s more than one way to skin a turkey (and… Read more »
NaNoWriMo is officially over. And you’re probably officially wiped out. And officially the owner of a very new, very messy, but very finished first draft. Or not. Maybe you’re the owner of 50,000 words, and you still have a ways to go before you bump into the words “THE END.” But if you’re a writer,… Read more »
We’re T-minus two days from Thanksgiving. If the holiday hustle and bustle hasn’t started already, it’s about to. Writing time is about to get as scarce as a flat-screen on black Friday. If you’re not taking the next six weeks off from writing, but you still want to make time for family, friends and celebrating,… Read more »
It’s hard to find time to write. It’s hard to clear your mind, sit down, sit still and focus. It’s hard to tell family, friends and co-workers, “No. I can’t go to that party, no I can’t have another round, no I can’t marathon Orange is the New Black all weekend. I have to write.” And with the… Read more »
Here’s a powerful technique for immersing readers into your story: use the sense of smell. Of all the senses, smell has the strongest psychological effect. The mere mention of a smell evokes memories and triggers associations in the reader’s subconscious. Mention a smell, and the scene comes to life. Mention two or three, and the reader is… Read more »
