Voracious romance readers love a series. When you read something you like, you want more! It’s human nature. And traditional publishers love signing a series. They want to know that a book they invest enough in to publish will produce more books and more readers. But feeding that hunger is the tricky part for us… Read more »
A lot of people like the structure of a traditional MFA program because it gives students rigid deadlines that they must meet; their grades depend on it. There are also writing challenges (such as NaNoWriMo) that give a similar motivation to get your butt in the chair and write. But what if we don’t have… Read more »
A few weeks back, in the middle of a massive rewrite of my novel, I sat down to write the next scene and as soon as I started I knew it was horrible. The scene I had typed out on the page was nothing like the scene in my head. So I tried again. Reworked… Read more »
Web Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Brenda Joyce Patterson, poet, writer, librarian,and the newest columnist for DIY MFA! In her column, Writing Small, she’ll be talking about the world of short fiction and poetry! Raise your hand if you read poetry. How about short stories? I so wish I could be a fly on… Read more »
How much time do you have to write? How much of that time do you actually spend writing? If you don’t know the answer to the latter question, you may want to take a closer look at your writing routine, because your productivity has the potential to skyrocket if you make a few simple tweaks to… Read more »
Recently, I shared five tips for writing more powerful personal essays in my #5onFri post, 5 Hacks to Make Your CNF More Compelling. My post this week offers some insights on creative nonfiction’s genre-bending forms, and how working with them can lead to more interesting and innovative work. This has certainly been the case for… Read more »
Disclaimer: I am not a theoretical physicist, nor to I portray one in any media. Time travel as a concept in fiction has been around since 1770 (L’An 2440, rêve s’il en fût jamais by Louis-Sébastien Mercier) but there are instances of time travel in the Mahabharata, and some Buddhist and Japanese tales [1]. Fairies, particularly… Read more »
Drawing powerful verbal images is a real skill and is often a key ability that defines ‘natural writers’. Here are five things to think about when you write with respect to using the power of the pen to draw images. 1) Be aware of visual imagery The first step is heightening your awareness of verbal… Read more »
There comes a point in every story when, despite the protagonist’s best efforts, everything goes wrong. The midpoint taught her to take an improved approach to achieving her story goal. But that won’t protect her from experiencing the worst possible setback in her pursuit. Now her goal seems unattainable, her task insurmountable – and the… Read more »
In recent weeks the future of the personal essay has been a hot topic – you may have come across Jia Tolentino’s article in the New Yorker, Lorraine Berry’s take on the situation over at LitHub or Susan Shapiro’s response to Tolentino’s piece. As a writer, teacher and lover of creative non-fiction, particularly its genre-bending… Read more »
