Some time ago—before the days of coronavirus and social distancing—I attended a conference and ran into a colleague of mine at one of the cocktail happy hours. We exchanged pleasantries and filled each other in on what was new in our work. She had a new book out and it had been nominated for an… Read more »
Women comprise a large percentage of true crime fans. The most common theory behind this popularity seems to be that women read and watch true crime to face their fears. As with many facets of real life, this phenomenon made its way into fiction. For the last few years, books documenting women solving cold cases… Read more »
As a writer, nothing is more frustrating than ending a writing session with a blank page. Sometimes outside distractions like family, pets, or social media cause us to lose focus. Or sometimes internal forces like worry, doubt, or anxiety that stop our fingers from adding words to the page. Either way, it’s frustrating. We’re writers—we… Read more »
The universe works in mysterious ways. As I was trying to figure out what my next column would be about, I got a bit of a promotion here at DIY MFA. I am now the Web Editor (among other responsibilities). While reviewing the contact page and submissions guidelines, inspiration struck! I could write my next… Read more »
The world is an overwhelming and chaotic place lately. How can you be expected to deal with everything on your plate and still find time to write? It’s tempting to blame recent events for our lack of personal time and ability to manage it. But if we are honest with ourselves, we would recall how… Read more »
In my last newsletter, I shared some thoughts about iteration and how Yoda (yes, that Yoda) and Samuel Beckett preach similar philosophies. I talked about how “fail better” is not just something we must do in our creative work, but also with our very humanity. To become better humans, we must iterate at the soul… Read more »
It’s amazing to realize how writers occupy completely different modes of existence. We all share the same reality, but at a deeper level, we dwell in creative worlds dictated by our routines. There are larks among us who strike their keyboards in the early morning. Then, there are nocturnals, for whom nightfall portends creative output…. Read more »
The world is a mess right now. The United States is a mess right now. And we cannot pretend like what has been happening and what’s continuing to happen isn’t happening. And I just wanted to name that here before going any further. Everyone has the right to engage in social justice in different ways,… Read more »
Beating writer’s block can seem impossible when you’re lost in the weeds. It’s frustrating to feel like you’re completely stuck and all the good ideas you had have just checked out. In fact, some authors even feel anxious when they sit down in front of their computers to write. But getting past the writer’s block… Read more »
The past few weeks have been heavy ones, leading to a lot of introspection both in my personal life and also in my writing and business. If you’d like to see where DIY MFA stands in light of recent events, I shared some thoughts on our website. While I realize that there is no returning… Read more »
