What makes something a verse novel? Simply speaking, a verse novel (or novel in verse) is exactly what the name implies: a novel that is told in verse rather than prose. It’s a bit more complicated than that, though. Why aren’t works like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid called epic poems and not… Read more »
Today I’d like to welcome Caroline Starr Rose back to DIY MFA. Caroline and I met through the blogsphere in 2010, when she hosted a Verse Novel Challenge on her blog. Being a fan of verse novels, I joined the challenge and have had the pleasure of following her writing and publishing journey ever since. … Read more »
I’m guessing that after a week of reading about how great poetry is, you might be ready to dive in and read or write some poems of your own. But where to start? With all the literary resources out there, where do you go to find resources on poetry? Never fear! I’ve put together a… Read more »
It can be a challenge to wrap our minds around poetry. It’s not as straight-forward as non-fiction or fiction so many people choose to bury our heads in the sand, hoping that if we can’t see poetry then poetry can’t see us. Why not learn directly from those who have tamed the beast? That’s where… Read more »
Some time ago, I came to a realization that made me go from having a visceral hatred of poetry to suddenly rediscovering its beauty. The realization was this: It’s not that I dislike all poetry, I just dislike bad poetry. Let me backtrack a little bit. It’s 1993 and I’m in ninth grade biology class… Read more »
Today, to kick off the Master Class blog series on Poetry and Verse Novels, we have an fabulous guest post by Leslie Bulion. I first discovered Leslie’s work at BEA (BookExpo America) last year, where I came across a copy of her book At the Sea Floor Cafe. From the minute I picked up the… Read more »
Whether it’s in an auditorium in front of hundreds of people or in your living room with a couple of close friends, reading your work in public can be nerve-wracking. In fact, even writers who have been speaking in public for years still get nervous when they have to read their own work aloud. I… Read more »
The violin and I have a love-hate relationship. I started playing at age 4, and have continued on and off for over 30-or-so years. Some of the time this was by choice, other times… not so much. After all, how much choice do you really have when you’re 4? It scares me a little to… Read more »
This is a DIY MFA Manifesto for Why Writers Must Be Readers First One year ago, I heard Richard Nash (Publisher of Red Lemonade) give a fascinating talk about how writers have to be readers. His argument was that reading and writing are the opposite sides of the same interaction. I remember thinking: OMG did… Read more »
As our “Legally Speaking” series winds down, I thought I would share some links and resources where you can find more information about copyright and legal issues for writers. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it can certainly help you get started. Law School Clinical Programs In addition to the resources and… Read more »
