At one point or another, we have all wanted to allow our essays to flourish with emotion, and bring to life an exceptional literature piece. But how to get started on this arduous task? 

If it were that easy, everybody would be the next bestselling author. 

While it is not an easy overnight task, here are five steps that can help make your writing more emotional, and get you one step closer towards writing stardom:

1. Find a template online

This might seem obvious, but a lot of people neglect to do this. When I won an accounting scholarship, I had to write an essay describing why my passion for accounting was exceptional. This was a great time to know how to write an emotional piece of writing. But I didn’t know how to get started. 

Luckily, online templates were available. I didn’t plagiarize anything, and certainly, my experiences and emotions were genuine, but they all flowed even better under a template. 

The sentence, and even the paragraph structure, had a flow I did not understand at the time, but the template ultimately freed up my mind to focus more on enunciating my emotions towards accounting. 

I did end up winning that scholarship, so that is proof that this simple yet effective trick is a golden tip that can help many people.

2. Learn synonyms from a dictionary or online

A short story that keeps using the word “said” can be generic and dull. “Said” is a very overused word. You could replace that word with “exclaimed” every time you used the word, but even a word that shows emotion, if used repetitively, loses meaning. 

Synonyms exist because each word has its nuance, its own subtle meaning, which can change itself and the rest of the sentence, maybe even the entire paragraph. It can shift the entire interpretation of a character, or even a story.

That is the power of a word; that is why capturing the correct emotional state is important. If you are not sure of the right word, look it up to avoid messing up your masterpiece. Learn as many words as you can, so you have more ways to express the subtleties of the story you are trying to make. 

Only you have the sense of the degree, the superlatives, of your characters’ emotions. You owe it to them to use the right words to express those feelings.

3. Try to put special emphasis on consciously keeping track of the state of emotion in the words you use in your writing

As a tie-in to the point above, you might want to keep track of the words you use in the story to avoid bland words. While your stream of consciousness, a fact I will outline more in the point below, is usually almost flawless, just by getting a bit tired can lead you into using more simple words to express your characters’ feelings. 

You usually get these during a proofread and avoid repetitive words in the process, but sometimes, you might have overconfidence in your writing while you’re in the heat of the moment and think you have nailed it perfectly. 

To save time, you might avoid putting as much care into that proofreading during that section, thinking you have already done it perfectly. I speak from experience, when I say that even the most seemingly perfect piece of writing in the heat of the moment can be improved even a bit during a second read-over. That marginal increase in writing could separate you from first prize and second.

4. Stream of consciousness and trusting your instincts

Visualize your characters’ feelings in your short story by putting yourself in their shoes within the setting of the story. Don’t think about it; just write. Your instincts, a culmination of your past experiences, will produce a very good result that will reflect most of your feelings in that heated moment of writing. 

Editing is to get that last 5% to make it perfect, but for the most part, you are already almost there if you put yourself in your characters’ shoes first, and write from the heart. There is no contrivance in this, and the end result will be a reflection of both the characters, and a part of your own honest feelings.

5. Do not be emotional for the sake of being emotional

This is a very common mistake beginner writers make. They are emotional during every point in an obvious way to try to rope readers in, even when it is unnatural. 

When a character is not doing much, it really is okay to leave them bland for the moment. Do not force them to be emotional if it ruins the story. It will also, by following this advice, make the emotional parts all the more impactful.

These are five tips to make your writing more emotional. I hope you find them as helpful as I did!

Tell us in the comments: How do you approach writing an emotional piece?

Anson Leung is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Commerce program. He is an Alberta based writer who loves all forms of writing, including poetry and article writing. In his spare time, he loves playing tennis and board games.

The post #5onFri: Five Tips for Writing an Emotional Piece appeared first on DIY MFA.

Adult readers want topics that produce a strong emotive response. They want to know they are not alone in their struggles. They want to relate to characters who share their own painful journeys. Self-help books and memoirs often tackle these issues, but fiction readers also want stories that give voice to tough topics.

In particular, women’s fiction deals with themes that are part of our national dialogue. My debut novel A Week of Warm Weather explores sensitive subjects such as abandonment, addiction, and both physical and emotional abuse. Having experienced these issues—either myself or with people close to me—it was important to me to portray these experiences with empathy and authenticity for my readers.

Here are five tips for writing about sensitive subjects in fiction:

1. Don’t Sugarcoat

Sure, fiction is supposed to be entertaining, but unless you write fantasy or sci-fi, it should also be real. When writing about tough topics, don’t be afraid to be raw and put it all out there. Sensitive subjects resonate with readers when they are written realistically, not glossed over.

In A Week of Warm Weather, my protagonist Tessa was abandoned by her biological mother as a child. This affects her profoundly and informs every subsequent choice and behavior. Because she’s internalized her feelings and not worked through them, she feels inadequate and damaged. She is a people-pleaser to the point that she sacrifices her own emotional well-being. 

Most of all, she is terrified of further rejection and abandonment. This causes her to put up with abuse from her husband that will have readers screaming out loud at her. To sugarcoat such a trauma would be to minimize the severity of it and may alienate readers who have endured a similar experience.

Writing authentically about difficult topics results in a powerful novel that resonates with readers.

2. Draw on Your Own Experiences Whenever Possible

As the author, if you’ve experienced the sensitive issue(s) yourself—as I have—understand that you will be exposing a part of yourself. Don’t be afraid of that—it’s a good thing. 

My own experience gave life to Tessa’s emotions and actions. As an adult, I’ve worked through my trauma; therefore, I was able to draw on not only my memories of going through it as a child, but also how it affected all my later thoughts and actions.

I channeled that energy into creating Tessa. Though it was hard to dredge up painful memories, it was cathartic to embark on the journey through my character. 

My hope is that, while no two people who experience trauma react in exactly the same way, my book’s themes will resonate with readers and initiate a dialogue that helps them find ways to work through their own difficulties. 

Writing about a subject that matters to me helped me to treat it with the weight it deserves.

3. Do Your Research/Ask the Pros

When writing about sensitive subjects that you have not personally experienced, speak to people who have. They will ensure you portray characters authentically including how they talk, dress, and behave. 

Also, recruit beta readers who are members of the marginalized community or have lived through the experiences in your book. There is no better authority to determine if any part of your writing comes across as not believable. They will help you avoid stereotypes or “token characters” that add nothing to the story’s arc and are a sure way to alienate readers.

For my book, though I have personal experience with abandonment, addiction, and abuse, I sought the expertise of others with similar experiences and also professionals who have helped people through them. 

I attended AA and Al-Anon meetings where I spoke to people (after disclosing that I was writing a book) whose lives have been affected, and some destroyed, by addiction. I spoke to counselors who know firsthand the behaviors and responses of real people dealing with all forms of abuse. 

Even if you have experience with the difficult topics in your writing, research them thoroughly.

4. Have a Purpose

Even in fiction, readers want to know why you are writing about a topic, especially a sensitive one. It’s offensive to readers if a delicate subject is “thrown in” or does not advance the story. 

If you set out to write about a sensitive topic, commit to it. Learn everything you can about the topic so you can give it the authenticity it deserves. Don’t incorporate “buzz words” or “hot topics” to attempt to show you are in tune with what’s going on in the world today. 

Readers are smart. They will know immediately you are seeking attention, not deeply exploring an important subject to begin a dialogue or enact change. Don’t try to tackle multiple issues or characters that “tick a box.” This will result in your readers tossing aside your book in favor of one that deeply explores a topic that matters to them.

After reading my book, I hope people who have gone through similar experiences—either personally or relating to someone they know—will realize that secrets make us sick. Only through acknowledgement and dialogue can change occur. 

Decades ago, people did not openly discuss how it felt to be an adult who was abandoned by a parent. They were ashamed to admit they or someone they love was an addict. They hid abuse, especially emotional abuse, for fear of not being believed. 

Today, largely due to the impact of social media as a platform for discussion and debate, these issues are part of our nation’s ongoing dialogue. Make sure readers know your writing is part of that important conversation.

5. Bring Closure

In the end, we are all hopeful that better days are ahead. Try to give readers hope that they can overcome difficulties. That’s not to say you should patronize readers or pretend that every problem has an easy—or any—solution. 

When I write women’s fiction, I am mindful that although I am not writing a traditional self-help book, my readers are real people with real challenges. They are the sum total of their experiences, and within the pages of my book, they are likely to see a bit of themselves or someone they know. They want to be part of a community of people with shared experiences, even if those people are characters in a novel.

My book explores the effects of abandonment with the hope that readers know it is possible to break the cycle of generational trauma. It explores addiction with the hope that readers recognize and break free from codependent behaviors. It explores abuse with the hope that readers will shed their denial and shame. Mostly, I wrote my book to inspire readers to start a dialogue that helps everyone going through challenges.

If you have an idea for a novel that contains sensitive subjects or controversial issues, these tips should help your writing to resonate with readers. Hopefully by using these suggestions, you will compose a meaningful story that will affirm to readers that others share their struggles. 

Though my protagonist’s problems are not all solved by the end of the book, she finds her voice. Shouldn’t that be our wish for our readers?

Tell us in the comments: What tips are you going to use the next time you write about sensitive subjects?

Born and raised in a large family in eastern Pennsylvania, Lee Bukowski has always had an interest in reading, writing, and storytelling. She holds a BA in English and Secondary Education from Millersville University and taught seventh grade English and writing for fifteen years. In 2017, she obtained an MFA in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Currently, she teaches writing at the college level and freelances as a proofreader and editor. When she’s not teaching or writing, she loves reading and traveling, especially visiting her grown daughters in Boston and Fort Lauderdale. A Week of Warm Weather is her debut novel. Lee lives with her husband in Reading, PA.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post #5onFri: Five Tips on Writing about Sensitive Subjects in Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you’ve had a difficult time figuring out how to juggle your writing life with your parenting life, might I suggest you try weaving the two together? In my experience, kids enjoy coming along for the journey, and writing is much more accessible to kids than other professions and hobbies.

So before you put your writing on hold for the rest of the summer, here are five tips to help you include your children in your writing life. You’ll be able to spend time with your kids while working towards your writing goals, and you just might have fun doing it.

1. Share the Joy of Reading

Create a family culture that values reading. Bedtime stories are standard in many homes, but brainstorm other ways to enjoy stories together. 

My kids and I enjoy listening to audiobooks during lunchtime, and I appreciate the bonus of less bickering. You might build a reading fort in your home or pitch a reading tent in the yard. Watch a movie based on a book, then compare it with the book.

Share book recommendations with one another. Talk about what you’ve enjoyed reading and why. Don’t shame your kids for their book choices. Parents often get uptight about their kids’ summer reading, which isn’t fair. (How many adults fill their summer reading exclusively with weighty literature?)

If you set summer reading goals, make reading the prize. Visit your local bookstore and let everyone purchase a book. It’s a prize that builds each child’s personal library.

When we value reading in our homes, we respect writing. Your kids may also start writing as they aspire to be like their favorite authors.

2. Show Your Work

Kids are naturally inquisitive, so why not teach them about your work? If your material is not suitable for young people, instead share about the writing life, the publishing process, or how to generate story ideas.

If you are researching for a project, teach your kids how to use the library and online resources to uncover information. Show them how you organize your facts and data. Teach them best practices, including how to find reliable sources. Encourage them to work on their own research project, and you can work side by side.

When age-appropriate, try pitching your story ideas to your kids. This has a double benefit: it will require you to be clear and brief, which is required in a pitch, and kids are honest and they will tell you if it stinks!

Above all, be transparent about the challenges you face. Tell your kids how frustrating it is when you receive rejections. Let them see the arduous revision process, complete with messy markups. Show them how you keep writing, even when—especially when—you’re not sure how it’s all going to turn out.

Kids rarely get to see the process that goes into good writing. They can become discouraged when their writing isn’t perfect on the first try. You are giving them a gift when you show creativity is hard work.

3. Interact with the Writing Community

Be good literary citizens and support writers. Leave a positive book review, or leave one on behalf of your child who is too young to post it. Promote other people’s work on social media platforms. My kids love it when the author likes our post or leaves a comment for us.

Send fan mail. Most writers I know love hearing their work has impacted others. They may reply, and it is a thrill to hear from a favorite author.

Go to local bookstores, library story times, book fairs, and literary festivals. Attend an author event or local book signing. These events help you network, and they show your kids that authors are real people.

4. Establish a Daily Time to Create

Set aside time every day to create. It doesn’t have to be the same time every day, so long as it happens every day.

Your family’s creative time should be enjoyable—not a chore. Let each person pick their preferred activity. Make sure everyone has what they need, set a timer, and create!

Younger children may need short blocks of time (10-15 minutes). Depending on the activity, you may need to sit next to them to troubleshoot, but promote independence as much as possible.

Use this block of time to write. Your child might want to paint, construct something with blocks, or make a movie. The point is to make creativity a treasured and respected process.

5. Respect Everyone’s Creative Output

If you take away only one tip, make it this one: affirm what everyone has made. Compliment the good. Praise the effort that went into it. Encourage them to keep creating.

LISTEN to your kids when they tell you about the new thing they made. Stop scrolling and give them your undivided attention while they talk about what they’ve made. Show them how we listen while others share their work.

Respect and courtesy go a long way. Give your kids time and space to follow their passions and expect them to do the same for you.

A Word on Expectations

It would be disingenuous of me to treat these tips as a checklist for creating an idyllic life where writing and parenting live in perfect harmony. I think we are most discontent when we believe perfection is something within our grasp, but no such life exists.

We feel better about our accomplishments when our expectations honor reality. Set yourself up for success by setting goals that are based on your life right now, not anyone else’s.

Create. Teach your kids to create. It will require effort and time to establish these habits, but if you play the long game, you’ll reap incredible benefits while simultaneously raising the next generation of creatives.

Tell us in the comments: Which of these ideas will you be trying with your kids this summer?

Sara Gentry has a Ph.D. in Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics and is a writer, homeschooling mom, and Author Accelerator certified book coach. Sara uses her analytical and logical brain to help writers corral their ideas into a cohesive and compelling narrative. She works with many types of writers, but has a soft spot for coaching mom writers who are juggling all the things.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Include Your Children in Your Writing Life This Summer appeared first on DIY MFA.

In part, this meant that while I (mostly) used the town’s real history and geography, every person and business in the book is invented. But it also meant that I wanted to approach the town as I would the book’s characters, giving it the kind of story arc and shades of personality that readers expect from the human characters.

Too often, settings end up being just that: a sort of stage set on which the characters carry out the action of the novel. I wanted the Mill Valley of my novel to be much more than that. 

Here are a few principles I found useful as I worked to make that goal a reality.

1. Do your research

To write well about your characters, you have to know them intimately, and the same goes for a place. 

When I went back to Mill Valley to see family, I made a point of visiting places I knew would show up in the book—my old Little League baseball field, the town’s central plaza universally known as “the Bricks,” the crumbling World War II-era coastal artillery bunkers where we used to party when I was a kid. 

At each site, I took notes on what I saw and heard and smelled, as well as about who was there and what they were doing. More than once, my observations found their way directly into the book.

I also did a fair bit of research into the history of Mill Valley and the surrounding Marin County. The internet is great for this. I found old maps that showed the area in the early years of Spanish settlement before California became a state and read amateur histories of the area running from the arrival of the Coast Miwok people, through the years of the Spanish settlement, and right up to the waves of people brought by the Golden Gate Bridge and World War II. 

This helped me create a “backstory” for the town, which, in turn, made it easier for me to build a compelling dramatic arc for it.

2. Give your setting a dramatic story arc

In a novel, a “flat” character always stays the same, while a “rounded” character changes over the course of the story in a compelling way. The same holds true, I’ve come to believe, for settings. 

We all write plenty of “flat” settings—a bar where two characters meet, a courtroom where a trial takes place, etc.—but I wanted the town at the heart of Blithedale Canyon to have a story arc just like ones I gave to the book’s main characters. And, just as with a human character, that meant something vital needed to be at stake for the town and the action of the novel needed to put those stakes at risk.

For the Mill Valley of Blithedale Canyon what’s at stake is the question of what kind of town it’s going to be. In the novel, the generation of small-business owners who made the town is dying off, replaced by fabulously wealthy entrepreneurs and tech gurus. The family of Trent Wolfer, the novel’s narrator, owned a shoe store where his granddad repaired shoes in the back. Nearby malls killed off that business, and now, as Trent says at one point, “All the old stores are gone. There’s nothing left in town but chain stores and art galleries.” Trent takes a job at a locally owned grocery store where the son of the owner is trying to harness the power of the web to out-compete a high-end national chain and keep the business in his family. This battle for the town’s identity becomes an important secondary plot for the book.

3. The setting’s story arc has to connect to the central plot of the novel

It’s all well and good to offer your readers a storyline for your setting, but if it doesn’t connect in a meaningful way to the book’s plot, readers will wonder why it’s there. 

In Blithedale Canyon, the central plot is a love story. Trent is a drug addict and alcoholic who moves back to his hometown to live with his mother and her tech-millionaire second husband after narrowly avoiding a long jail sentence for defrauding the owner of a liquor store in Santa Barbara.

On the surface, Trent would seem the last person on Earth to care about Mill Valley’s small-town feel. But his grandparents’ shoe store was a haven from the chaos of his childhood, and he wants more than anything for the world to return to the one he knew then. So, almost in spite of himself, he throws himself into the mission of saving the grocery store, thinking that if he can make that work, he can make all the other dysfunctional parts of his life work as well. 

In this way, his story arc and the story arc of the book’s setting are joined as one.

4. Grant your setting the subtle shadings of character you would grant a central human figure

Readers are drawn to complexity of character, especially when that complexity leads to surprises and insights. 

In my case, it would have been easy to take potshots at Mill Valley, with its stratospheric wealth and its culture of sun-glazed self-regard. And I did take my shots. Early on, Trent rails at how the town has “become an upscale theme park of itself, the bus depot made over into a trendy bookstore, the old head shop into an art gallery, the pharmacy into a doggie daycare, everything everywhere cleaned up and prettified for the tourists on their way to Muir Woods and the ocean beaches.”

But I also wanted to show the side of the town those tourists might miss. Because he’s local, Trent goes places few visitors will ever see and the people he meets there belong to a tight-knit community largely invisible to people passing through. 

I wanted to be true to both sides of the town’s character, the rich, self-satisfied, Teslas-and-aromatherapy side, and the one inhabited by ordinary working people barely hanging on in a place that has become increasingly inhospitable to them.

5. Your other characters must relate to your setting as they would a human character

It’s not enough that you view your setting as a fully realized character; your other characters have to see it the same way, or else the reader never will. 

Each of the main characters in Blithedale Canyon have a particularized relationship with the town they live in. For Trent’s wealthy stepdad, a hippie turned tech entrepreneur, it’s the canvas on which he’s painted the masterpiece of his own life. For Suze Randall, the woman Trent loves, who has moved back home with her two kids, the town is a perilous ladder out of the hole she’s dug herself with a disastrous marriage. And for Trent, it’s his last, best chance to make a home for himself after he’s failed everywhere else.

The point is the setting of your novel should never be static, never simply be the place where the events of the plots happen. 

Just like a real place, it should show a different face to every person who lives there. And just like a real place, it should be in constant flux, ever at risk of losing its way or rising to meet its potential.

Tell us in the comments: What are your favorite books that make the setting a character?

Michael Bourne is a contributing editor at Poets & Writers Magazine and a staff writer for The Millions. He has written for The New York Times, The Economist, Literary Hub and Salon, and his fiction has appeared in more than a dozen literary magazines including december, The Southampton Review, and Tin House. Raised in Northern California, he now lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his wife and son. Blithedale Canyon is his first novel. You can order it on Amazon, Bookshop, or Regal House.

You can find Michael on his website or follow him on Twitter and Goodreads.

The post #5onFri: ​​Five Ways to Turn Your Novel’s Setting into a Fully Realized Character appeared first on DIY MFA.

I find myself reading writers’ memoirs, pen in hand, underlining something on most pages. Ones that are especially useful, I go back through with a notebook and take down notes of the things I’ve underlined for quick reference later on.

For this #5onFri I’ve listed my five favorite writers’ memoirs and explained what I love about each. A quick note about the order. They are listed in alphabetical order of author’s last name, not in the order I read them or the order of preference. I find that in lists, alphabetical order is the most democratic.

1. Bukowski in a Sundress by Kim Addonizio

This memoir was so entertaining that it was like meeting a gal pal for endless martinis and swapping insane story after insane story. Addonizio’s memoir is really about the perseverance it takes to carve out a career as a writer, in particular as a poet.

There are a ton of great anecdotes about her adventures on the road at writing conferences and readings, as well as lessons about juggling real life and writing. She approaches it all with humor and grit—which are two crucial characteristics you need to be a writer.

This collection is definitely not for the faint of heart. Language and sexploits abound in this wild romp. But, for me, it was a super accessible memoir in that nothing was sugar-coated.

2. I Came All This Way to Meet You by Jami Attenberg

This is the most recently published of these writers’ memoirs. One of the blurbs on the back sums it up quite nicely: “A love letter to work and to friendship.” A lot of the book is grounded in road trips Attenberg took to promote one book or another and how grueling they were, but also the sights she saw and the things she learned about herself on the way.

She talks about books she wrote that didn’t do well and how she didn’t understand why, and I really appreciated that kind of honesty. This whole writing and publishing thing is a fickle mistress, which is why we really should just focus on the bit we can control, the writing.

This one made me realize that as hard as it all is, if you love the work (and surely you must, otherwise why do it?), it really is worth it. 

Plus, who doesn’t love a good road trip book?

3. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

I loved this memoir in essays. It is so poetic and beautiful. This book is a manifesto on the interconnectedness of life, art, and politics. Good writing encapsulates all three.

Chee does a wonderful job of balancing writing about his life and how that informed his development as a writer. Just when you think you’re reading an essay about writing, you realize that it’s also about life. And when you think you’re reading about Chee’s political activism, you also catch glimpses of writing advice.

I think I heard that he has another collection of essays coming out and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us. He’s also the guest editor of this year’s Best American Essays, out in the fall.

4. On Writing by Stephen King

This was the first writers’ memoir I read cover to cover and I read it when I wasn’t really into Stephen King’s novels. This volume is broken into three parts: C.V., Toolbox, and On Writing, plus a couple of recommended reading lists.

In C.V., King presents his curriculum vitae, his bona fides, his path to writing. He delves into his childhood spent shuffling around and living with various relatives and how he eventually discovered he kind of liked this thing called writing. 

He is really honest about his struggles with and recovery from addiction and how it has shown up in his writing. Plus, he reveals how writing brought him back to life after his near-fatal accident in 1999.

This one provides another glimpse at the level of dedication it takes to become a master of the craft of writing. It is entertaining and inspiring.

5. Just Kids by Patti Smith

When I first saw this memoir, I had no idea who Patti Smith was, but I saw this memoir EVERYWHERE, so I eventually broke down and bought it. Naturally.

This is a love story by Patti Smith about her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. They lived together when they were struggling artists in New York City in the late 1960s and early 70s. Smith does an amazing job of exploring the depth of that relationship. 

But she also writes a beautiful account of the devotional aspect of being an artist. And that’s my biggest takeaway from this memoir—the importance of truly living your art.

You’ll have to excuse me for not writing much of a conclusion to this post. I am struggling to decide which of these writers’ memoirs I’m going to revisit first!

Tell us in the comments: What are your favorite writers’ memoirs?

Lori Walker is the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. Though she’s fallen off the wagon as a writer, she’s hoping to return to writing essays (perhaps even a novel!) through her involvement with DIY MFA. She is also Launch Manager, Web Editor, and Podcast Producer for DIY MFA and a Book Coach. She resides in Smalltown, Oklahoma, with her husband and their cat, Joan Didion. You can follow her on Instagram at @LoriTheWriter.

The post #5onFri: Five Writers’ Memoirs You Should Check Out appeared first on DIY MFA.

1. Preparation

I set out a glass of water for myself, set my alarm, and make sure my tea kettle is full. Usually, I even put the teabag in the mug the night before. 

All of this feels like self-care, and it is. 

I am thinking ahead to what will make this process smoother, understanding myself and my own resistance and ensuring my ritual of creative exploring is protected. (I’m also doubling the good vibes by adding the drinking water habit to my routine. Bonus health points!)

Maybe I will get some words in. Maybe I’ll outline a new idea. Maybe I’ll read Rumi, sip my hot Chai tea and watch the darkness outside my window lighten while an idea percolates. The point is: this creative ritual opens the space for more.

2. Play for Creative Payouts

Writing can be serious business—if you’re a journalist covering the local crime beat or an essayist trying to communicate an urgent global crisis. But for most of us, this isn’t going to get us out of bed in the morning. 

Our creative ritual needs to be something we look forward to. 

You might save the world with your writing, but let’s first save your motivation to get in the chair. I am here to remind you that this writing thing is supposed to be fun. You’ll have to trust me that if you’re having fun, you’re more likely to keep coming back for more. There is no guilt or shame in this, only acceptance. 

Leave the drudgery and rules and expectations and disappointments for the day job.

3. Plan Your Creative Space

The space where we write needs to be thought out too. This creative ritual is like making a date with your inner artist. Where does she want to be? 

Try asking yourself, what do I need to do to take that corner of the house for myself? 

You might need to move the kid’s homework desk or insist someone else make space for you. You don’t need to be published or be making millions of dollars to do this. 

It is your inalienable human right to pursue what makes you happy. And if you can’t carve out a physical space to do that in your own home, what hope do you have of taking up enough space to get a book written? 

Take the space. Make it yours. I use plants, trinkets from trips that inspire me, candles, and even the artwork around my desk to make me happy and ready to enact my creative ritual. 

You’d be surprised how quickly those minutes and hours become so life-giving and affirming you can’t imagine what dry, boring life you were living before this practice, this creative ritual.

4. Pick A Reward

We need to celebrate the wins. Every. Small. Win. 

Did you show up for yourself and your writing today? Amazing. For fun, make a list of ways you can celebrate. A hot bath, a movie, a cupcake from that fancy place around the corner. 

You deserve it. It doesn’t have to cost money. In fact, it’s better when it doesn’t.

Let me give you fair warning; you’re going to want to skip the celebration. It’s going to feel silly and selfish and indulgent. It isn’t. It’s an integral part of keeping this creative ritual promise to yourself. 

Don’t believe me? Here is a quick Youtube clip from BJ Fogg, author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything.

5. Iterate

You’ve got a nice cozy creative ritual established, you look forward to that special time, and that’s usually when the poo hits the fan. It’s okay. Let that poo hit. That’s just a plot twist. 

Even though I write at other times of the day, the early morning is where I have found the most consistency. Do you know why? The poo usually doesn’t hit until the world wakes up. Between 5 and 6 am, the world is usually poo-less. Unless you have a baby in diapers, then all bets are off. 

As I write this, my little one has come out of his room because he’s woken early and wants his mama. Instead of finishing this article before the world woke up, I’m cuddling a toddler back to sleep. What can you do? 

Life doesn’t go according to plan, and neither will your writing life. 

The point is, you keep trying. Keep iterating, keep protecting this life-giving practice not because you think it will make you money (boring!) but because you can know yourself and the world in no better way than to have a consistent creative ritual in your life.

As usual, Elizabeth Gilbert says it best:

A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Tell us in the comments: How have you built a creative ritual around your writing?

Angela Yeh is an East Coast Canadian native that lives and works in the great state of Texas. Angela is a black belt wanna-be who loves to garden, write about magic, and eat cake. Her debut YA fantasy novel, A Phoenix Rises, is a finalist in the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction. She lives with her husband, two lovely human children, and three cranky fur babies. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram or on her website.

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Develop a Creative Ritual You’ll Want to Keep appeared first on DIY MFA.

Writers aren’t impervious to the affliction.

You can definitely deal with burnout in the traditional ways of alcohol and a good venting session with your friends. But there are other ways of dealing with burnout that can actually help you creatively once you get to the other side.

And that’s what this article is about, but first…

A Quick Word on Creative Burnout vs. “Writer’s Block”

I did a bit of research and found that there is actually a difference between the two. Writer’s block is when you just kind of get stuck, so you avoid your work in progress for a while, then you get going again. Or you push through the wall, knowing that crappy words are better than no words, and soon enough you find yourself merrily writing again.

Creative burnout, on the other hand, is a bit more involved. Not only are you stuck and unable to write, but you don’t even want to try. It’s a heavier weight of avoidance than feeling stuck or blocked. Creative burnout isn’t that different from feeling burnt out in general. However, as creative people, one of the ways we connect with life and heal ourselves is through our art. If we can’t make that connection, then we really feel adrift.

So, what do you do when you’re experiencing burnout, creative or otherwise?

1. Get Moving

If you follow my Book Nook column, you may remember that I recently shared about reading a book on burnout. This book is full of scientific explanations of how and why our bodies experience and deal with burnout. The number one tip they give for beating burnout is to get moving. And I have to mention it because tons of other researchers also list this as the best way of dealing with burnout.

There are tons of options. Personally, I’ve been walking a few times a week and I’ve been doing a fantastic Yoga Ritual series on the Yoga with Adriene members site. But she also has some free yoga videos for writers: Yoga for Writers, Yoga for Creativity, and Awaken the Artist Within, to name a few.

This combination has a significance for me that has helped me begin to beat creative burnout. First off, during my walks, I listen to audiobooks, so I have an opportunity to consume art while I am exercising (see below). Or I can simply observe nature and draw inspiration from the sites and sounds around me. Secondly, the yoga series I am doing builds in five minutes of meditation. I’m horrible at just sitting still, but it has helped forge a stronger mind-body connection that is useful for creative endeavors.

Just throwing it out there. Find your own way of moving.

2. Turn on Some Tunes

I’ve seen that the music we listen to in high school holds a special significance for us throughout our lives. Perhaps this is because high school and early adulthood are when we’re really learning who we are as people. We’re developing our own tastes.

If I’m feeling angsty, I’ll turn on GreenDay’s American Idiot or if I’m feeling soulful and contemplative, I’ll turn on Brandi Carlile’s The Story and find myself in a whole other frame of mind that wants to grab a pen and put down some thoughts and feelings. These words might be nothing or they might turn into something.

Further, music leads to dancing, which is one of our earliest ways of creative expression. It’s something we were able to manage before we were able to put pen to paper or crayon to coloring book and explore.

3. Consume Art Visually

Lots of museums have digital exhibits of their collections that are available online for free. Start Googling some of your favorite painters or meet some new ones. Let their visual representation of what they saw in the world speak to you. Listen. See what it says. See what you have to say back.

The purpose of art is to provoke a response. The artist felt something when they turned to their medium and created something with the intent of parlaying that feeling into some consumer of their art. You.

Maybe it changes the way you think of the color blue. Or maybe a painting inspires a story.

Think of art like food. You have to consume good food in order to have energy. You need to consume art in order to expend your creative energy.

If you want some extra credit, get yourself a blank notebook and fill it with images, words, or whatever speaks to you. Look at it often. Maybe even write about what is speaking to you.

4. Do Something Writing Adjacent

This is the number one bit of advice that I give my coaching students when they feel stuck, but I think it would also be helpful for when you are so blocked you can’t even get started. This is a good time to go down that research rabbit hole. If you find something that interests you, read about it! It will quite possibly inspire you to begin writing at some point.

Check out the comp books and movies for the stories you’ve wanted to write in the past. See what happens.

5. Just Take a Break

Sometimes you just need to walk away for a bit. It’ll help clear your mind. It’ll alleviate the pressure to create when you can’t. Beating yourself up for not creating is only going to compound matters.

If it helps, maybe put a date on it. “I’m going on a creative hiatus for three weeks,” then don’t open your work in progress during that time. Tell your creative accountability buddies that you are taking a break for a bit to refocus so that they aren’t trying to be helpful by checking in.

And during that break, do other things to help recenter and refocus yourself.

You won’t get rid of creative burnout overnight. But it’s all about baby steps and soon you’ll be running and flying.

Tell us in the comments: How do you deal with burnout?

Lori Walker is the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. Though she’s fallen off the wagon as a writer, she’s hoping to return to writing essays (perhaps even a novel!) through her involvement with DIY MFA. She is also Launch Manager, Web Editor, and Podcast Producer for DIY MFA and a Book Coach. She resides in Smalltown, Oklahoma, with her husband and their cat, Joan Didion. You can follow her on Instagram at @LoriTheWriter.

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Deal with Burnout appeared first on DIY MFA.

But then, while getting prepared for my hour of writing, I scooted five blank Notecards across the wooden floor from under my desk. (One of the easier kinds of toys to retrieve from my cats.) Spontaneously, I decided to turn one of these cards into a welcome letter and act as my own teacher.

The first item on the agenda was to read my welcome letter. “Not only will you find confidence, but you’ll also give yourself permission to have fun,” the note read. Without realizing it, I gave myself the gift of support—that spine of a cheerleader—that fills the empty void I felt while setting up my space.

Ever since then, and in the role of teacher, I’ve left check-in letters on the same “thank you” card template for myself. These check-in letters offer five answers to the ruminating question: “What’s the point of writing?”

1. A Dream Can Be Something to Grasp

I think of my daily check-in letter as a body of support. Each day, this body stands facing me at four inches tall as her birch-white arm lifts to reveal words of nourishment.  

At the bottom of my initial welcome letter, I asked, “What is your main goal?” And at the end of my first hour, I answered with, “I will finish a full manuscript draft by summer.” Together, the body of support and the black ink make my writing dream a solid piece of matter. There’s some serious weight to that first part of creation.

One of my next steps after working from start to finish on a few small projects is to print out my memoir manuscript as is and sit with it like a real book. Though my voice will be in a different realm and time on the typed page, it’ll echo the tangibility of the handwritten letters. I am here and I am real, the 8 1/2 x 11-inch birch-white papers will say. Constantly holding the different stages of my dream makes it exactly the point.  

2. What You Love Is What You Fight For

Writing letters to myself is a way to connect with safety when fear takes over the creative part of my brain. I can sit down with nerves but as I read a new letter the practice of respect, patience, and loyalty for my time kicks in. This makes working through fear and doubt easier. I enter what author Allan G. Hunter calls the “warrior-lover” archetype phase in his book, Stories We Need to Know: He explains that we fight for what we love and believe in what we are doing.

When I ask myself whether I feel fear, I sometimes create a journal entry in the blank space underneath the given letter and describe a scene I’m doubting: “I hide my hand in its sleeve, anticipating the jump of my arm, like the kickback of a gun… Why should this be anything to anyone?” 

Being a Warrior-Lover doesn’t mean we can’t ask questions and doubt ourselves from time to time. Asking questions actually enables us to return to the big picture. 

At the end of the day, I know that my hidden hand matters because that’s essential to my story. When there’s a scene that’s so detailed and authentic that I think of it often, I know it’s something I love and need to nurture.

3. A Long-Term Project Keeps the Brain Healthy

A start with any project can be a success in and of itself. I may not know where my poem on the body and a quartz singing bowl is taking me, but a partially finished draft created by any Warrior-Lover can hold the brain attentive and inspired. As a poem or essay can be read in one sitting, it does not mean they are not long-term projects in the making.

While not exactly long-term projects, creating small, daily lesson plans for the writing hour and doing writing exercises can have lasting mental effects. The planning, comprehending, and executing strengthen cognitive skills, such as memory and emotional resilience. 

At the very least, writing can offer its own kind of vitamins for the mind.

4. We Visit the Street of Gratitude

Gratitude is a two-way street with these check-in letters. For instance, the second thing I wrote in my welcome letter to myself was, “Thank you for putting time aside.” The teacher part of me acts as an accountability buddy and appreciates the respect given.

I’m also thankful to have this outlet of letter writing because I’m gentler with myself. It’s in my nature to be a perfectionist so when I don’t finish a first draft of a yoga article on day one, as a teacher I write the next letter to myself acknowledging how I contributed to the project and that I did the best I could in the moment.

The humor of author Anne Lamott helps, too. In Bird by Bird, she gives writers permission to make messes in what she calls our “shitty first drafts.” She believes perfectionism is a way of cramping muscles and it chokes our writing. I think of this whenever I need to physically get up and walk around after staring at the same section of my project. I let myself and the work “breathe and move” per Lamott’s suggestion.  

5. We Challenge Ourselves

I’m my own cheerleader, but I make sure not to patronize myself in the process. I counter my cheers by pushing myself. For instance, I participate in writing contests. The challenge is not a given contest itself but rather the ability to turn a submission into a humbling writing exercise. At the end of the process, I see and understand it as an honest attempt and an honest piece whether or not it finds a home.   

I recently assigned myself the task of putting down a current read and starting a new one. This sounds as though the teacher is giving the student permission to give up, but my goal is to keep myself engaged with reading. I’m actually giving myself permission to put one book aside that does not serve me (yet) and pick up a book that allows me to be an active reader in my genre, taking notes and drawing hearts next to passages.

A more subtle challenge comes from asking conversational questions in letters. These questions make me reflect on my motivation level outside the writing hour: “What activities are you doing to refocus yourself?” “You think you’ll do a Reading Challenge soon?”

Overall, the letters are full of writing with focus without the pressure.

Tell us in the comments: What is your check-in letter going to say?

Brittany Capozzi grew up outside of Boston and holds a BA in English from Curry College with a double concentration in Creative Writing and Professional Writing. She draws inspiration from teaching and studying yoga and belly dancing.  Feel free to say hi and check out her work at  https://bellabiancalynn.com/ or follow her on Twitter @BellaBiancaL.

The post #5onFri: Five Answers We Get from Writing Letters to Ourselves appeared first on DIY MFA.

None of this descriptive prose advances the story one inch. 

A teacher once said to me, “Redge, if you decide to write a story about a bear….bring on the bear.”

1. Write, but write what?

Let’s back up a bit. The first thing to decide is what you’re going to write.

What am I good at? What gives me the most satisfaction? A poem, an essay, a short story, a novel, or some other literary form. 

This is not a trivial decision. While this might seem obvious, it is too often ignored. 

An honest evaluation of one’s talent and inclinations can be painful. Some people just can’t tell a joke, and yet they try. Some people say there’s a novel within them, but they have little imagination.   

2. Are you a storyteller or are you a singer of words?

Are you in love with the sound and choice of your words or do you want to tell a story that carries your reader on an exciting ride? 

Obviously, great storytellers can be purveyors of beautiful words, but the words shouldn’t get in the way of the story. Some might say to look at Faulkner versus Hemingway. One drew complex character and location descriptions into beautiful sagas. The other slapped a bear around in the first chapter and didn’t let go until the end. 

A current trend is to write short stories that begin and end without going anywhere, but arrive there via some beautiful prose.

3. Ordinary or erudite?

Prose is defined as “The ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.” 

Okay, now we have the dictionary version, but what constitutes “ordinary”? What is the ordinary form of spoken language and what difference does it make?

Faulkner once said,  “Hemingway has never been known to use a word that might cause a reader to check with a dictionary.” 

Hemingway replied, “Poor Faulkner, does he think big emotions come from big words?” 

Both men are recognized as brilliant authors, but they chose different paths. 

Let’s say you decide, as I did, that you want to tell stories, and that you want to tell stories about interesting, difficult, simple, complex, loving, hateful people. You want your reader to laugh at your jokes, cry when crying is called for, and think when thought is required. You want your reader to stay in the story, to relate to the people, and for me, that means limiting the time spent thumbing through a dictionary. The irony is that one of Faulkner’s best stories was called “The Bear.”

4. Where’s the meat?

So, what will make the reader become involved? Interesting people, of all types, plus a storyline that is both believable and unbelievable. 

No one really believes that Bond could survive hand to hand combat against twenty trained attackers, but what the hell, it’s a great story, which finally gets to the point of this essay—bring the reader along with you but don’t insult him or her with too much self-satisfying descriptive prose. 

The reason most people think that movies adapted from books are less enjoyable than reading the book, is that movies don’t leave anything up to the viewer’s imagination. Roger Moore ain’t James Bond! Tom Cruise ain’t Jack Reacher! That’s not what Goldfinger’s farm looks like!

5. Let’em find their Wonderland.

The world a good writer creates is not just their world, but their reader’s. A good story allows the reader in; it encourages the reader to create their own world because that world is the most realistic and exciting. The writer is the guide who points out areas of interest but lets the reader fill in the blanks. 

A teacher of mine once said, “It’s okay to feed your reader, but don’t chew for them.” Don’t tell them every detail about the protagonist, about the garden, about every aspect of the scenery. 

Don’t be a movie, be a book.

Tell us in the comments: How do you balance telling enough versus telling all?

Eldridge C. Hanes; Redge to his friends; was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and graduated from Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia, and then from Duke University in 1967 with a BA in Economics. He graduated from the Army Combat Engineering Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir in June of 1968 and served three years of active duty, the last of which was in the Republic of Vietnam and earned him the Bronze Star. After the army, Redge worked seven years for Hanes Corporation and then left to start Xpres Corporation, which eventually became The Russ Companies, for whom Redge served as chairman for three years before retiring in 2011. In addition to his business interests, he has served on a number of boards in the education, environmental and arts fields. Redge has published two novels, Billy Bowater and Justice by Another Name, in addition to contributing essays and articles to various publications. His essay “Helen of Marion” appeared in the recent UNC Press anthology, Mothers and Strangers: Essays on Motherhood from the New South. Redge has been married for fifty years to Jane Grenley Hanes. They have a son, Philip, and a daughter, Lara, and are grandparents of five lively and beautiful grandchildren.

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Tell Enough without Telling All appeared first on DIY MFA.

For anyone who is already doing so—or thinking of it soon—here are 5 factors that contribute to long-term success for your full-fledged freelance business.

1. Embrace Your Craft

If you’re freelancing, chances are you wanted a greater degree of enjoyment out of your work. Rather than dragging yourself through the corporate rat race, you launched out on your own and are trying to “make it” doing something that you love. 

If that’s the case, one of the most important factors to keep in mind as you go along is to preserve your passions. This may sound easy for some and impossible for others—and the truth is, it can be both.

While both of these attitudes are common, though, it’s also possible to find a sustainable middle ground—if you try. No matter what stage of the journey you’re in, always strive to remind yourself that you’re doing something you love. Jack London is a good example of this. The author had countless responsibilities, but throughout it all, he still loved to write—to the point where he wrote so much that he forgot to eat at times.

Remember, even though many responsibilities come with running a freelance business, at its core, you’re doing something you’re passionate about. Is it hard? Sure. Are there challenges? Of course. But that’s always true with professional pursuits. The important thing is that you’re pursuing a form of employment on your terms. It’s an encouraging and empowering mindset that can be critical in keeping you motivated over time.

2. Create Long-Term Infrastructure for Your Freelance Business

You may be a solopreneur with a tiny, one-person business but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the corporate side of your business activities. On the contrary, it’s important to invest in the business side of things, including putting long-term elements of your freelance business in place.

For instance, if you send a lot of invoices, create a template to streamline the process. If you need to build a network, invest in things like social media and measure your success over time. If your job is location-dependent, consider things like moving nearer to an important client or living in a city center where you can easily access clients who are within walking distance of one another.

If you’re serious about freelancing, take the time to look past today’s workload. How can you invest in the long-term infrastructure of your growing business?

3. Adopt an Entrepreneurial Attitude

It doesn’t matter what your freelancing activity is. You could build websites, walk dogs, write blog posts, and the list goes on. But at the end of the day, there’s one thing that all contractors share in common: they’re business owners.

That said, it’s important to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude as you go about tending to your business. This includes practical elements, like paying bills and communicating with clients promptly.

It also requires some more nuanced activity. For instance, it’s wise to spend time understanding, identifying, and managing potential risks. Do you have long-term clients? Do you have money saved up for temporary lapses in income? Should you purchase business insurance?

Along with risk factors, consider your mental and emotional state. Look for ways that you can cope with failure—because chances are it will come. When setbacks happen, how will you respond? Work on building resilience and positivity to help you get through the slow or difficult times.

4. Stay Organized

If you want to both attain and maintain a successful freelance business, you need to figure out how to stay organized. This applies to every area of your professional activities. Networking, paying bills, doing your taxes, maintaining equipment, creating a schedule, and of course, doing the work that you’re hired to do all require organization.

There are many ways for freelancers to stay organized. One of the most essential of these is pulling together a commitment tracking system (or CTS for short.) This can be something as simple as using Trello to track open loops and keep your short-term activities and long-term projects in one place.

Your CTS should be a system that helps you track all of your personal and professional activities. As a freelancer, it’s too easy to blur the lines between personal and professional work. Using a CTS helps you tend to your responsibilities without being controlled by your work and personal commitments all of the time.

5. Define Success for Your Freelance Business

Finally, take the time to define success—to you. Don’t look at what others have set as their own benchmarks. Take the time to personally define what it looks like for you to have officially “succeeded.” Is it a financial goal? A time-based goal? A certain lifestyle? A combination of these and other factors?

This isn’t just a fun exercise to see how high you can fly as a freelancer. It’s a critical element of maintaining your own sanity and stability over time.

By defining your terms of success, you establish parameters for you to work within. You can set attainable goals that can keep you motivated. If you’re a workaholic, these boundaries can also help you avoid slipping into an endless pursuit of “bigger and better.”

Setting the Stage for Freelance Business Success

Freelancing is popular, but it’s also tough—especially if you want to freelance full time. Nevertheless, there is a high ceiling for those who go about building their freelance businesses thoughtfully.

So, use the tips above to make sure you’re setting the stage for long-term success with your freelance business. That way you can dive into each day’s work knowing that you’re working toward something that will be sustainable far into the future.

Tell us in the comments: How have you set up your freelance business for success?

Indiana Lee is a writer and journalist from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for covering workplace issues, social justice, environmental protection, and more. In her off time, she enjoys hiking with her two dogs. You can follow her on Twitter @indianalee3, or reach her at indianaleewrites@gmail.com

The post #5onFri: Five Factors that Lead to Freelance Business Success appeared first on DIY MFA.