A lot of people are nervous—and with good reason—that Artificial Intelligence (AI) might take away opportunities from human writers. After all, why should publishers pay humans to produce material when they can get a GPT to spit out something similar for free? What is it that can differentiate human writers from the bots? Two things:… Read more »
In fall of 2003, I got a copy of The Artist’s Way and decided I was going to work through it step-by-step. I completed the twelve weeks, and the effect on my creative life was nothing short of transformative. Yet, one thing tripped me up along the way and kept me from continuing the program… Read more »
It recently occurred to me that it would be interesting to see if the three-act structure worked with one of Shakespeare’s plays. After all, the structure has held up when looking at novels and movies of various different genres, but I have yet to use it to analyze anything by Shakespeare. To find out if… Read more »
If you’ve ever listened to my podcast, DIY MFA Radio, you know that at the end of each interview, I would ask the same question: “What’s your #1 tip for writers?” As I was thinking of what to write for today’s newsletter, I asked myself that same question, and I came up with not one,… Read more »
“Subplots are like the adjectives of your main story/sentence. You can still understand the sentence without them, but it’s not as fascinating.” ~Charlie Holmberg I love this quote because I think it captures the nature of subplots to a T. The main plot is like a noun or verb in a sentence, it’s the part… Read more »
Today I wanted to talk about one of my favorite topics. Iteration is the process where you repeat something, making small, incremental changes. We’re so used to seeing iteration in the world around us, that we barely even notice it. For example, tech companies use iteration all the time. They produce software and release a… Read more »
“Where do you get ideas?” Every writer has been asked that question at some point in their career. Sometimes it seems like new story ideas appear as if by magic. Other times it can feel like pulling teeth. So, how do we as writers get new story ideas? Let me give you a window into… Read more »
One of the techniques I talk about most often is the Angst Jar. This is a tool I use to help myself get through creative failure and persevere, even when writing becomes difficult (which, inevitably, it does). The Angst Jar is designed to give you an outlet for creative pain, allowing you to channel it… Read more »
Over the past few months, I’ve shared some 3-Act analyses of various different movies, books, and stories. These analyses have included things like the book Pride and Prejudice, the movie Die Hard, and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” It can be useful to look at examples of the three-act structure in action, but… Read more »
“Where do you get your ideas?” People are always curious how writers can come up with unique new stories, especially when those writers are producing books at a fast clip. This is especially true when writing genre fiction, where tropes and genre conventions are prevalent. How do you keep from repeating yourself? How do you… Read more »
