Learning to write stronger scenes is an important skill for any writer. Scenes are an essential part of storytelling, and if you don’t craft them well, your narrative can grind to a halt. The reason scenes are so important is because they are the smallest unit of a story that contains all the key elements:… Read more »
The other day, I was relaxing after dinner and streaming some episodes of The Office. This was one of my favorite shows when it first aired and a lot of the humor still holds up, even now over two decades later. As I watched “Office Olympics” (Season 2, Episode 3), I found myself doing a… Read more »
Recently, the music school I attended as a child held its 55th anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and I had the chance to play in the alum orchestra. Since it had been a while since I’d played my violin, I spent a lot of time in the weeks leading up to the concert learning the… Read more »
What do you do when you’re out of ideas? I have often struggled with this very problem. In fact, as I sit down to write this newsletter, I’m wondering what on earth I might have to say about writing that hasn’t already been said. Terrifying as it may seem, I suddenly find myself out of… Read more »
Have you ever been in that state of creative flow where it feels like your book is practically writing itself? It’s amazing, right? To me, it’s like the muse is whispering straight into my ear and those words just pour onto the page. I don’t even notice that I’m writing because the ideas just flow…. Read more »
At DIY MFA, we talk a lot about “big craft” topics like character development, world-building, or story structure. Today, I wanted to do something a little different and discuss scene craft—i.e., the techniques that go into creating a compelling and engaging scene. Scenes are an essential component of storytelling because they are the fundamental building… Read more »
At DIY MFA, we focus a lot on the craft of writing. It’s our specialty and (truthfully) it’s one of my favorite things to teach. I love coming up with frameworks and structures to help writers learn the craft and implement techniques on the page. But there’s more to writing than just the writing itself…. Read more »
One of the most challenging parts of the creative process is what many writers lovingly call B.I.C. (backside in chair). But productivity isn’t just about getting to the desk and cranking out the words. Many of us often struggle with distractions and all sorts of interruptions so that even if we are able to get… Read more »
Time management is one of the most misunderstood concepts because most people think it’s all about watching the clock and saving time. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. You see, watching the clock is not time management, it’s punctuality. Similarly, saving time is efficiency, which is different from time management. After all, you could… Read more »
This time I thought I’d do an analysis of Murder, She Wrote, one of my all-time favorite TV shows. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s about Jessica Fletcher, a retired schoolteacher-turned-mystery-author who goes around solving murders. Some of those murders take place in her beloved hometown of Cabot Cove, while others occur when she… Read more »
