7 Basics of a Writing Education

Random fact: whenever I go out to write, I carry with me a few essentials. These include an unlined notebook, a fountain pen, and an unsharpened pencil. Why the latter? you may be wondering. The unsharpened pencil symbolizes untapped potential, all the endless possibilities and stories yet to be written. Now with a new session of… Read more »

Episode 25: Get Motivated and Get Writing

Hello and thank you for joining us today! I’m so glad you’re here. Today, I wanted to give a shout-out to Tobias, who wrote in with a question that inspired today’s episode, Get Motivated and Get Writing. In fact, this got me thinking that If you have questions you’d like to hear answered on DIY… Read more »

Episode 24: My Go-To Productivity Tool

Hello and Happy New Year, everyone! The start of the new year is always so exciting for me. I love how it feels fresh and new and filled with infinite possibility. But this new year is especially exciting because, as you may have already heard, this year I’ll be writing the DIY MFA book! I… Read more »

Episode 23: Make Writing Resolutions That Stick

Happy New Year, everyone! Since it’s the last day of 2014, I thought we’d talk about writing resolutions. But first, let me start with a crazy fact. According to a University of Scranton study, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s goals. For many people the new year begins with all the best intentions for making… Read more »

Episode 21: Outlining Demystified

Hello and thank you for joining me today! In this episode–titled Outlining Demystified–we’re going talk about outline techniques particularly geared for writers who hate outlines. When I first started writing, I hated outlines because I thought they were too constricting. Then I discovered these five techniques and a whole new side of writing opened up… Read more »

DIY MFA Is Going to Be a Book!

I am so unbelievably excited to share this news with you today. As of late last week it is official: DIY MFA will be a book and Writer’s Digest Books is going to publish it. The contract is signed, sealed and delivered, and in Spring 2016 the DIY MFA book will be coming to a bookstore near… Read more »

Episode 19: How to Rock Your Post-NaNoWriMo Revisions

Hello and thank you for joining me today! This episode covers one of my favorite topics: revision. A lot of people (mostly non-writers) think revision just means running your story through spell-check, change a few words here and there, then poof! Your manuscript is ready to submit. We writers know better than that. Revision is… Read more »

Episode 18: Deconstructing Shakespeare’s Sonnet 90

Hello and happy Thanksgiving! I’m so thankful that you are here! This podcast has been a true labor of love for me and I’m thrilled to share it with you. Today I want to tell you about something else that I am thankful for: the ability to read Shakespeare in the original English. Shakespeare’s work has made a… Read more »