At DIY MFA, we talk a lot about iteration and crafting a writing process. Every writer’s process will look different. Some of us like sitting at the same desk, keeping to a strict schedule. Others probably thrive on a bit more adventure–different writing locales, juggling multiple projects. Many more probably lie somewhere in the middle…. Read more »
Dear word nerd, For the past week, I have watched with outrage and horror at the events that have taken place. The murder of an innocent black man, the violence and aggression toward peaceful protesters, and the perpetual lack of initiative and empathy from many of our leaders during this time of extreme crisis. I… Read more »
This is not the article I intended to write. But I found, just as likely you, too, that I couldn’t focus on anything other than the viral elephant in our global living room. This coronavirus, COVID-19, won’t let any of us ignore it. Constant news alerts about death, the reality of livelihood loss, and the… Read more »
You’re an author! Congratulations! Arriving here, book in hand, you’ve joined a very exclusive club. Writing is vulnerable, sacrificial and truth be told, a bucket-list item that most will never check off. An incredible amount of work goes into writing a book: the research, the writing, the editing and various publishing tasks. These can take… Read more »
One of the things I hear from writers again and again is how much they dislike marketing. Any time the dreaded p-word (ahem, platform) comes up in a room (in person or virtual), you can hear the collective groan ripple among the crowd. Marketing, sales, and promotion do not rank high among writers’ favorite things…. Read more »
So, it’s been some weird times. For those of us who are lucky, it’s been a time of constraint, worry and adjusting. For others, it’s been a time of fear, uncertainty, even mourning. I hope you are doing alright through all this, and I write this with the understanding that not all of you will… Read more »
When we’re elbows-deep in outlining, drafting, redrafting and revising our manuscripts, it can be hard to imagine that our works in progress will ever be truly finished. Yet, we will inevitably get to the end—or what feels like it could be the end—of our novel-writing process. And when that happens, the question of what to… Read more »
“I remembered my New Orleans days, living on two five-cent candy bars a day for weeks at a time in order to have leisure to write. But starvation, unfortunately, didn’t improve art. It only hindered it. A man’s soul was rooted in his stomach. A man could write much better after eating a porterhouse steak… Read more »
There’s no denying it: COVID-19 is having a big impact on books, writing, and the world. It would feel strange to write a column now that didn’t mention it, or acknowledge the ways writers and illustrators, particularly of kidlit, are coping and helping. Below, we’ll look at ways authors and illustrators are helping young readers… Read more »
Living in the midst of a global pandemic, in addition to being a very terrifying and uncertain experience, has also been an incredibly inspiring one. Since being ordered to remain on social lockdown and distanced from one another, both here in the District of Columbia and elsewhere across the country, my partner and I have… Read more »
