The key to building a team is to draw on real relationships. If you try luring people in to help you for entirely self-serving reasons, they will know. Be a real friend and a good literary citizen. Give as much as you get, and, hopefully, your team will emerge organically. Here’s a peek at my dream team:

1. The Cheerleader

The Cheerleader is that friend who believes in you. The one who had faith in you before anyone else did, maybe before you believed in yourself. She tells everyone she knows about your books. She not only introduces you to her book club, but shares all your good news on social media and slaps your book into every hand she can.

2. The Editor

This craft-focused friend reads your manuscripts carefully and writes detailed notes. She starts her edit letter like this: “I know you were hoping this manuscript was closer to being ready, but …” She is laser-focused on helping you find your flaws and guiding you to possible solutions. 

I’m not referring to your editor at your publishing house. I’m talking about a friend who is invested in your writing from the first draft to the final product. This is the wordsmith friend who will notice your writing tics and challenge you with questions about theme, motivation, and desire.

3. The Therapist

The Therapist is one who always takes your calls and listens to you whine even when (especially when) you are being a brat or overly sensitive. Because let’s face it, bad reviews and rejections hurt. Writer’s block can feel like a dark hole with no ladder out. Sometimes you just need someone who is willing to listen and commiserate but not necessarily try to fix things. 

4. The Critic

The Critic is the friend who doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He gives it to you straight and tells you if he hates a character, if the ending is too contrived, or if the writing is too flowery. I’d rather hear the tough stuff while I’m editing, than when it’s already on shelves. As opposed to the Editor friend, the Critic critiques like a reader would, not an editor. If he was rating you on Goodreads, he would leave you a two-star review if he thought your work wasn’t up to snuff.

Don’t take it personally. This friend cares about your work or he wouldn’t bother reading it. (And If the tough love is too much, you can always call your Therapist friend afterward.)

5. The Petty Friend

I’m not above admitting I can be petty, and it helps to have a friend who sees my pettiness and matches it with her own. The key to this relationship is recognizing boundaries. What you discuss with your Petty Friend stays in the vault.

But why do you need to be petty, you ask? Being an author can be stressful. Having a safe place to dump your insecurities, hurt feelings, disappointments, jealousies, and regrets without fear of judgment is priceless. This is the friend who always sides with you and unquestioningly hates your nemesis on your behalf. The one who detests the book that beat yours for a big award and will shred reviews critical of your novel. (Just to be clear, my Petty Friend is one of the most kind-hearted people I know. She would never act on the pettiness we discuss, but her willingness to get angry on my behalf makes me feel less alone.)

Who is on your team? Are you a Cheerleader, Editor, Therapist, Critic, or Petty Friend? Do you play different roles for different writer friends?

As a journalist, Julie Carrick Dalton has published more than a thousand articles in The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Orion Magazine, Electric Literature, and other publications. A Tin House and Bread Loaf alum, and graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator, Dalton holds a master’s degree in literature and creative writing from Harvard Extension School. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of writing fiction in the age of climate crisis. A mom to four kids and two dogs, Dalton is an avid skier, hiker, and kayaker. A former beekeeper, she also farms a gorgeous tract of land in rural New Hampshire.

For more information, visit her website, or you can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The post #5onFri: The Five Friends Every Author Needs appeared first on DIY MFA.

To achieve this goal, we recognized that we must move beyond surface-level representations of diversity and instead strive to make invisible systems of privilege and inequality visible to our readers. We will avoid the temptations of cultural appropriation by being prepared to be held accountable for our cultural depictions. However, what if, despite our commitment to doing all of these things, we still somehow get “it” wrong?

The fear of getting “it” wrong (being politically incorrect) or being “called out” (and canceled) is a common barrier to inclusive writing, but perhaps our reactions and beliefs about political correctness are what needs adjusting. This post will offer a framework for responding to concerns about cultural representations in our published work and social media posts.

Political Correctness Consciousness

The internet would feel like less of a cultural war zone if we viewed political correctness as less of an attempt to silence free speech or a trendy obsession with “labels”. “Why can’t we all just be humans, humaning?” is often asked when it comes to concerns about political correctness. The answer will always be that privilege and inequality exist; we do not all experience the world in the same way.

Political correctness is a sometimes imperfect attempt to be conscious of the fact that some marginalized identities have not had the access or political power to define their own experiences. Historically, the terms used to reference marginalized communities have been ascribed to them without their input and are often steeped in histories of inaccuracy, erasure, violence, and bias. What we often dismiss as identity politics is, in reality, an attempt at respecting and understanding the experiences of others.

Despite our best intentions and efforts, we cannot know the “correct” terms for every marginalized identity. Therefore, when we are approached about problematic, outdated, and offensive terms, we can apologize and then lean in to listen, without getting defensive. 

Called Out or Called In?

I believe in the power of dialogue to create systematic change. However, bullying, stalking, threats of harm, and demands to change your content are not acceptable ways to have these conversations and should not be tolerated. 

It is sometimes difficult to determine if the critiques we receive are from internet trolls or people who have genuinely been negatively impacted by our writing. There is a very important difference between the two. Are we being called out for attention or are we being called in because someone finds value in our work? What if we shifted our focus from ourselves and placed it on the person raising the concern?

If we imagine our content as our vehicle, we may be able to better visualize how our writing can negatively impact our readers. Somehow, we accidentally ran a red light and crashed into someone else’s car. It seemed like a light fender bender, nothing dramatic but, as we stare out our windshield, the driver looks really hurt, and other people have gathered around them. Everyone seems very angry at us.

Content Fender Benders

A content fender bender^TM (just kidding) happens when readers or critics take us to task for cultural appropriation, reductive stereotypes, tone deafness, or otherwise harmful misrepresentations. Thinking of our content as a vehicle can be a useful metaphor because it encourages us to spend less time deciphering who was at fault and, instead, focus on the people who were harmed and to determine our next steps.

Who’s at the Center?

Ring Theory, developed by clinical psychologist Susan Silk and Barry Goldman, is a simple guide for navigating everyday conversations about difficult or traumatic events. The theory is often utilized in diversity and inclusion, allyship, and crisis management spaces. Silk came up with the idea while battling breast cancer and feeling drained by having to manage her loved one’s feelings over her health crisis. 

Ring Theory asks us to first identify who is at the center of the crisis and to place them in a circle. Everyone outside of the immediate circle should work together to offer support for the people in the circle. Those outside of the circle should resist processing, grieving, or complaining to people inside the circle and, instead, find other spaces to work through their feelings. The goal is to have support flowing into the inner circle and complaints flowing outwards. I find this theory particularly applicable because it emphasizes self-care and accountability.

Put on Your Mask First

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, you are familiar with the reminder to put your mask on first during a crisis before attending to others. I recommend the same strategy for navigating cultural content fender benders. Log off and take a beat.

Unlike an actual car crash, we can take more time to check in with our feelings before we work through the situation. While it is typically not a good idea to completely ignore a complaint (unless you’re sure the person is trolling you), responding quickly without getting in touch with our emotions can be just as harmful. Consider thanking the commenter for bringing it to your attention or posting a statement that you are taking time to reflect on the concern. 

Ideally, when we step out of our metaphorical “car”, our response should be focused on hearing and understanding how our content negatively affected the other person. But if we are hurt, embarrassed, uninformed, or angry, we can make the situation worse. Once we have made the time to check in with our feelings, we can better address the issue.

Turn into the Skid

Trying to avoid or smooth over these types of concerns can make them worse so, for the love of all that is caffeinated and pumpkin spice in this land, avoid replying with these types of responses:

AVOIDANCE AND DENIAL

“I didn’t intend to hit you”, “I barely hit you”, or “It’s not my fault that you are hurt.”

Don’t get distracted by fault and avoid centering yourself and focusing on your initial intent. Instead, try to ask open-ended questions to better understand how the content affected them. Also remember, we are listening to understand their experience, not for them to educate or fix us.

AWKWARD SELF DISCLOSURES

“I would never intentionally hit you” or “I’m two teaspoons native on my neighbor’s dog’s second cousin’s side of the family”.

Impromptu self-disclosure of genetic ancestry or having friends from marginalized groups does little to address the collision the person experienced. It especially misses the point, because some identity groups do not have the privilege of selectively disclosing their cultural identity as a means of avoiding accountability.

BRING OUT THE HISTORIAN

“Actually, hair extensions were first used in Europe in 16 b.c.”

The conjuring of an inner Wikipedia historian does little to account for the obstacles and lived experiences that some cultural markers have on marginalized people. Trying to use history is just another way to avoid the issue.

There are obviously a lot of nuances that come with this advice, when considering the context of the incident and how to best respond. In summary, my best advice for navigating these situations is to lead with our humanity, take responsibility for negatively impacting others, and most importantly, focus on the center of the circle. 

Colice Sanders is a blogger and diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator. Colice writes nonfiction, poetry, and memoir. Her blog, A Reason to Rise, chronicles her journey of radical self-acceptance through the lens of childhood trauma. 

You can also reach her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The post The Messy Middle: Cultural Content Fender Benders appeared first on DIY MFA.

This includes wearing the marketing and sales hats.

This may seem terrifying, but it’s not as daunting as you may think. While marketing your books and bookish products for your career may be laborious, it doesn’t have to be painstaking. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my journey as a career, independent author, it’s this:

Systems and automations will get you far.

Believe it or not, some of your favorite 6, and 7, figure-earning authors have no team. No staff. Just independent contractors and vendors they use every now and again to get certain projects done. Aside from that, they’re able to get almost everything in their business done themselves.

How?

Through tight, and highly efficient, systems, and automations.

Being an author doesn’t have to overwhelm you. Especially not the publishing and marketing bits. In this article, I’m thrilled to share some of the systems and automations I have in place that help me automate the majority of my business so I can easily market, focus on writing more books, and serve my readers, all while growing my publishing career.

Canva: Content and Product Creation

Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

I’m not afraid to admit, I swear by Canva. Truly. I use this tool for just about everything in my author business. From creating social media graphics I use on Instagram, to videos I create for book trailers, to branding materials like logos for my business, and even printed materials like character art and stickers.

It’s a great all-in-one media design tool. Canva will help you create the posts for the social platform of your choice, and even help you create what you need for more personal touches when fulfilling orders for your readers. 

Also… did I mention it’s free? I can’t recommend Canva enough. Give it a try and see how it helps do wonders for your author business.

Preview: Social Media Scheduling

Preview is an Instagram Planner that helps you easily plan your posts, Reels, IGTVs, and Instagram Stories. Find the best hashtags, caption ideas, presets, analytics, and more.

Once upon a time, it was said that content is king. Well. I think we could all agree, in today’s online climate, the new king is automation. I personally focus strictly on Instagram to grow my author business socially, so Preview is my go-to tool to schedule all of the content I create.

It’s great because you get a high-level view of your feed so you can see what your Instagram page will look like when your posts go Live. Preview also allows you to do this magical thing called, “auto-post”. This makes content 100% easier. You add the content in, you schedule it to post, and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

Whether you schedule content for next week, next month, or even next year, once it’s there, you can forget about it, and use up that mental space on greater priorities in your business.

Lintr.ee: Social Media Conversions

Linktree is a tool that allows you to create a personalized and customizable page that houses all the important links that you want to share with your audience.

Never let the internet fool you into thinking that clicks are more important than conversions. What I mean by this is, if you have 10,000 followers, but only get 10 people who buy your books, then your business is only as powerful as the 10 buyers.

This is why conversions are incredibly important, and the easiest way to increase them is to remove distractions. Linktree helps do just that. It provides a link readers can click on and see all the different ways they can connect with you. 

My favorite way to use Linktree is when promoting my current upcoming release, pushing readers to my newsletter, and making it easy to get to my website. Some authors share many links to their books, promotions, and more. As for me, I typically have no more than five links. Again, because conversions matter. The less there is to click, the easier it becomes for a reader to reach checkout.

Omnisend: Email and Text Marketing

Omnisend is an omnichannel marketing automation platform for growth-focused eCommerce businesses. Omnisend allows you to add several channels to the same automation workflow for seamless communication via email, SMS, web push notifications, and more.

If you don’t have an email list, you’re playing a highly dangerous game in business. At the end of the day, followers we have on any kind of platform, whether it be a social one like Instagram, or a search engine one like Pinterest, are not followers we own. If we lose access to those platforms, we thereby also lose access to those audiences we’ve built up.

This is why it’s incredibly important to build an email list. And these days, you also need a text list, too. We are increasingly on our phones for business, and everyday life. Reaching your readers where they are is directly tied to the backbone of your business. Omnisend makes growing both your email, and your text list, easy.

You get access to important data, have the ability to see what’s actually working, what’s converting, and what’s bottlenecking your business. It is one of the best tools I could recommend for you to invest in immediately for your author career.

Notion: Planning and Scheduling

Notion is a project management and note-taking software platform designed to help members of companies or organizations coordinate deadlines, objectives, and assignments for greater efficiency and productivity.

You’ve heard it said, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. There are many tools online for you to use when it comes to fleshing out your publishing schedule, writing out your marketing campaigns for email and social media, and also writing out tasks so you meet your goals and deadlines.

Recently, the tool that has made planning and scheduling easy for me is Notion. From tables, to checklists, to options for importing images, videos, spreadsheets, and more, it has taken my author business to the next level. 

Sometimes all your career needs is one right decision that will take you in the direction success lies. Notion is a project management tool, and for authors, it’s invaluable. I highly recommend giving it a go to propel your authorial career.

Now that we’ve discussed some phenomenal tools to assist you in your self-publishing career, tell me: Which of these do you plan to use?

Stephanie BwaBwa is the Jesus-centered, YA Fantasy Author and Entrepreneur, creator of fantasy world Elledelle, and Co-Host of the Indie Author Lifestyle Show, who’s enjoying building a legacy through the lens of story. You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging Disney+ with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at stephaniebwabwa.com or follow her on Instagram or Goodreads.

The post Marketing Systems and Automations to Grow Your Self-Publishing Career appeared first on DIY MFA.

But don’t let your fears get the best of you. Promoting your work is an important part of building a readership and being a good professional publishing partner—and it’s also exactly what you’ve been working toward! This is your big moment! Don’t let fear hold you back from embracing it.

Easier said than done, believe me, I know it first hand! But with each new book I’ve released into the world, I’ve also learned a few reliable tactics to reduce and overcome the fear.

Remind yourself of the why behind your story.

As a writer, you possess a basic creative drive that keeps you coming back to the page, but why this story? Why these characters? Why now?

You may not have had clear answers to these questions when you started drafting this story, but odds are you have answers to these questions if you reflect on it. Odds are there are some common threads between your story’s themes and what you’re wrestling with in the world around you, or personal questions you’re exploring, or the values you find most important. It’s just the nature of storytelling!

Whatever it is, identifying these threads in your story and putting words to them can help remind you why your story matters, and give you the conviction to get that message out to the world. To me, it always helps to remember that there are core elements of my story that are bigger than myself, and that others are bound to be passionate about, too.

Get a confidence boost from your critique partners.

You didn’t get all the way to publication without a few trusty writing allies rooting you on and helping you make this story its best. When you feel those nerves coming on, any critique partner worth their salt is there to cheer you on.

After all, all that time they invested in helping you refine and polish that story was a reflection of how much they believe in you and your work! No one is better equipped to remind you of your story’s strengths and why it matters.

Invest in your publishing community.

Being a good literary citizen is one of the best habits you can build as a member of the publishing industry. You likely already do your fair share of cheering on other authors and helping them spread the word about their work, but there’s no better time to double down on this than when you’re counting down to your own book launch.

Sure, this practice strengthens your relationships with those most likely to cheer you on when it’s time. But even more, for me, it reinforces the muscle memory of how supportive the writing community is—and that quells my nerves more than anything else.  

Build an action plan and refine your core messages.  

Well before any launch, it’s worthwhile to build out an action plan for your promotion. Having a timeline and core messages in place before the nerves start to warp my judgment helps me to take those first steps of promotion in good faith, trusting my earlier-self to have set a sound path forward, no matter what doubts I might feel when it’s time to take action.

Put it in writing, work ahead as much as you can, and then just follow the steps you laid out for yourself. Trust me, it’s much easier than trying to make these big decisions amid the frenzy of launch day!

Finally… You Have to Just Face the Fear Head On!

Even several books in, I still don’t have a solution that can eliminate those Book Promotion Scaries altogether, and I’ve yet to find an author who does. At some point, you simply have to trust your book will find its readers and take the leap. Luckily, I’ve also found every single time that my writing and reading community are there to catch me—and celebrate with me! In my experience, nothing makes the Book Promo Scaries easier to face than practicing making the leap and allowing them to carry you forward.

By day, E. J. Wenstrom is a digital strategy pro with over 10 years at communications firms. By early-early morning, she’s an award-winning sci-fi and fantasy author of the Chronicles of the Third Realm War novels, starting with Mud. She believes in complicated characters, terrifying monsters, and purple hair dye.

The post Overcoming the Book Promotion Scaries appeared first on DIY MFA.

After some enjoyable downtime over the summer, I’m back building my small business with renewed energy. So, I decided to start with tackling some of the areas that I’ve had resistance with in the past – primarily setting up my first website and drafting and designing the initial content I need to get it up and running. For me, this includes my logo, about page, welcome page, lead magnet, and setting up my email list database. 

Yes, that’s right. Basically, my task ahead is setting up my online presence from soup to nuts; so, I decided to tackle it one step at a time. I started with creating my logo. 

Selecting my business name was a relatively easy exercise for me as I discussed in Tales of a Solopreneur: To Trademark or Not to Trademark. But from the start, I’ve had no idea what I wanted to do with my logo. Selecting the design that was going to represent my business (and me) was daunting. From color scheme to fonts and graphics, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted. My mind went blank every time I tried to focus on it. I thought about hiring a graphics designer to help, but that didn’t make sense to me since I wasn’t sure what to ask them to create. Instead, I kicked the can down the road for a long while… and then for a little longer until I finally decided to crush the can and get started. 

This Tales of a Solopreneur installment discusses the process I followed to generate multiple logo designs for me to test run for my business.

Brainstorming a Logo

Once I accepted my logo wasn’t going to appear to me in an epiphany like my business name had, I decided I would start with the following action steps to help me brainstorm my logo. Then I would loop back at the end to assess where I was and what to do next.

Creating Inspiration Using Templates

I created my own inspiration by flipping through stock templates on Canva to see which ones I was loving and if there were any trends I could identify. Canva is an online graphic design tool that can be used to create many types of media content, including logos. The Canva website is very easy to navigate, and I was selecting sample logo templates within minutes of signing up. I signed up for a 30-days free trial to test it out, but I was so impressed with Canva’s capabilities that I plan to purchase a membership at the end of my trial.

These are the steps I followed on Canva to develop a cheat sheet of design elements I wanted to incorporate into my initial logo designs:

• Scan and Star Stock Templates – I spent about an hour searching various keywords related to my business name and starred the templates that jumped out at me. I ended up with several hundred possibilities, which was probably way more than I needed in the end; but it did help me easily identify trends when I scanned my starred folder as described below. 

• Pick Colors – First, I looked for the color schemes that I loved the best. Did I want a dark or light background? Which color schemes were popping, and did I want it to pop or something that was more subtle? 

• Focus on Text – Then, I looked at the typeface. Which fonts were my favorites? Did I prefer words in all caps, all lower-case, or a combo? Did I want the words to be the same color or different ones? 

• Select Pictures – Finally, I went back through and focused on the graphics and word placement. Which type of word placement and sizing did I prefer – horizontal or vertical, large or compact, one or multiple lines of text? Did I like graphics that were integral in the name or those that were there simply to accentuate the words? 

Although this might sound like too many steps, I found that focusing on one element at a time while scrolling through the templates made the process go quickly; and I narrowed down my design elements wish list to one page of notes within 45 minutes.

Designing Personalized Test Logos

Next, I was ready to start designing. Canva’s creation tool was very easy to use. I spent about ten minutes exploring how it worked; and then I was ready to get down to business and create my logo designs, which felt more like Arts & Crafts play:  

• Create Five Initial Designs – I used my one-page cheat sheet from my template research above to create five logo designs in an hour. I mixed background and typeset colors, graphics, and fonts throughout the various designs.

• Print and Preview the Designs – I printed off my five designs and tacked them onto a bulletin board. One thing to note is the printouts didn’t print true-to-color as compared to what I was seeing on my computer screen, but the printouts were close enough to help me compare the elements between the designs. I have the bulletin board propped against a wall near my desk, so I can glance at it often; and I’m figuring out what I think is working and what tweaks I might want to make. 

Refining an Ideal Client Avatar

I was excited to finally have logo designs to work with. Plus, rolling up my sleeves and creating my initial designs reminded me that I needed to consider what my ideal client (or customer) would think about my designs as well. I’ve brainstormed and researched my ideal client several times before, including my most recent brainstorming session discussed in Tales of a Solopreneur, but I hadn’t looked at it recently. 

After a couple of months away from building my business, I thought it was important to reconnect with WHO I was building it for. So, I thought this was a good time to revisit my client avatar, especially since I knew clarity on this would help me home in on the visuals for my logo, as well as the design and content for my website, which I would soon be working on.

I discovered my ideal client description wasn’t as specific as I remembered – or would like, so I challenged myself to get more specific on a minimum of 3 characteristics for this round. I was surprised to find that drilling down after some time away was easier than it had been for me to initially develop the characteristics. It also made me realize that I’ve developed my business ideas so much in recent months that the individuals I’m focused on are a much smaller subset than where I was earlier in the year.

Regardless of whether you’re starting out or you’ve been building your business for a while, 

I recommend revisiting and refining your ideal customer often. I plan to revisit my client avatar at least monthly while I’m building out my business to see where I need to make tweaks, and then I will switch to quarterly reviews after I launch the business.

Next Steps

After all my silent protesting and procrastinating, I completed phase 1 of my logo design in just over 3 hours and had a blast playing with the color schemes and graphics. I need a little more time to sit and stare at the logos before moving to phase 2, which will include narrowing down the initial five designs and creating some additional designs if I think something is still missing, which I expect will be the case. Then I will share those designs with some friends who are ideal clients to generate some feedback. After that, I will determine if I need to test a few more designs and whether I might benefit from hiring a graphics designer to create the final design.

In the meantime, while I ponder my bulletin board, I’ve started drafting my about page. Writing about myself is not something I enjoy doing, but I’ve discovered some great resources to get my brain percolating. More to come on this in a future installment.

I hope sharing my art project exercise with you has spurred you to either start designing your own logo if you’ve been putting it off, or to dust off your ideal customer avatar to see if anything has changed that might impact your brand.

Tell us in the comments: How did you design your logo, or what’s holding you back?

Richelle Lyn is a compensation & benefits attorney and HR executive, who now spends her days focused on the writing life. Her favorite fiction reads involve leading ladies who push boundaries and conquer their fears while preferably digging for secrets, learning magic, and/or saving the World. She’s also a fan of non-fiction reads focused on personal growth and transformation. She loves her tea hot, and her coffee iced. She calls South Florida home, but her favorite place to be is on a trip. You can check her out on Instagram.

The post Tales of a Solopreneur: Designing a Logo from Scratch appeared first on DIY MFA.

A lot of people recommend pressing forward through exhaustion, hard choices, and those moments that make you want to give up.

And I want to be perfectly clear. I am not asking you to give up.

I am asking you to take a break before you push through to the end.

When you are hiking up a mountain, especially as a beginner, you walk as fast as you can up that hill. If you’re anything like me, within fifteen minutes you’re gasping for air, your heart is beating out of your chest, and you feel like you might, possibly, throw up. You consider just rolling back down the hill, but know that your dog will give you the side-eye. Hobbling back to the trailhead, you climb in your car and drive home. Ugh.

When you go up that same mountain with a more experienced hiker, you’ll notice that they walk slower, take pauses, and look at the views while sipping from their ever-present water bottle. When moving at a manageable pace, you come to the end of the trail and discover that exhaustion snuck up on you. You feel less like you’re going to die and more like “That was hard, but so much fun!” And the next time you climb the mountain, you’re a little stronger and more able to bear any potential setbacks.

That’s the difference between taking a break and giving up.

Taking breaks in your creative work time gives you the same sort of ability to persevere with your writing projects. They support your creativity by filling your creative well with ideas, sounds, smells, experiences, sights, and tastes. They give inspiration room to strike.

However, we usually view breaks with suspicion. Am I just wasting time? Will this break lead to me giving up? How can I devote my usual writing time to doing something else?

Taking a break, no matter how necessary, can be scary. That’s normal, especially if you are feeling that gasping, desperate grasp for creativity each time you sit down. When your creativity seems to disappear, you wonder if it will ever return.

Yes. Yes, it will come back. You’ve just exhausted it with the constant exhale of work and no inhalations of inspiration. Whatever else you think, you can know for certain that, given time and space, your creativity will show up again.

So, how can you take this magical break and let that pool of creativity build back up?

Focus on the Physical

Even though all of our despair and anxiety seems located in our brains, our bodies hold that tension too. Rest your body and give it ample nourishment in the form of good food and healthy exercise. When you do this, you make space for your creativity and inspiration to return. Here are some of the things I do to support my body when my creativity begins to dissipate:

1. Chop Wood, Carry Water: Focus on simple acts and do them to the best of your ability. No more. No less.
2. Tubing: Just like riding an inner tube down a lazy river, limit your time spent doing anything strenuous—mentally, emotionally, or creatively. Look for ways to have fun during the workday. Make your workspace a pleasant place to inhabit. But keep your butt from dragging on the rocks! Do enough that you won’t get in trouble with your boss.
3. Take a Nap: Resting your body with midday naps, meditation, or walks connects you with your body and encourages you to listen to it.
4. Nourish Your Body & Soul: Embrace the practice of mindful living. Consider each thing you put in your mouth. Enjoy every single bite, whether it is a bowl of carrot sticks or ice cream. And do the same with your activity. These small moments of attention actively nourish your body and soul, allowing the joy and beauty of the experience to seep into our fuel tank of inspiration. Plus, that mindful nourishment of your mental and physical being? That’s self-care, baby!

Play With Your Creativity

Once you’ve created the space for your creativity to return, inspiration will begin to seep into your being again. These next suggestions actively refill that reservoir of creativity while battling burnout. Engaging with them on a consistent basis continually tops off your creative well and keeps your creative, work, and home lives balanced.

1. Laugh: Yep. We gotta giggle. Laughter releases stress, prevents and heals burnout, and just plain makes you feel better. And sometimes it’s darn hard to get yourself to laugh. So hard that our bodies have even evolved so that even if we PRETEND to laugh, it works just as well. Laughter opens our minds and hearts, and allows us to absorb those inspiring thoughts and ideas.
2. Indulge Your Curiosity: Curiosity is our primary source of inspiration rejuvenation. Following your curiosity supports gathering all of the new ideas, sights, experiences, tastes, smells, and sounds that fuel your creativity and inspiration. Any preparation for a creative project begins with unleashing your curiosity as you research, gather materials, and test outcomes. And a necessary byproduct of that process is joy.
3. Connect with Family & Friends: When your creative well drains, you tend to isolate yourself. Humans, even the introverts among us (count me in as an introvert!), require connection with each other. When it’s good, these connections feed our souls and add complex experiences and feelings to our creative well. They ground us in ourselves and our history, as well as giving us inspiration for new creations.
4. Play: We need to play. Activity combined with the firing of our imagination is an essential part of our lives. Our creativity depends on engaging in play where we can embrace whimsy and test our boundaries. Integrate the idea of play into anything you do, from taking out the garbage with a swing and a shout of “Two Points!” to join your child for a game of hopscotch.

It’s time to heal, take a break, and let that creative well fill back up. To disengage with the stressful thoughts and see where our minds take us. To play, to revel in the sunshine, to ignore the clock, and take in all of the beauty and joy we can discover.

The opposite of burned out isn’t rest. I mean, part of it is rest, but the other part is inspiration!

Let’s get ourselves ready to be inspired.

But first, let’s take a nap.

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois empowers you to embrace JOY as you manifest your creative goals through her Creativity and Business Coaching. Battle resistance, procrastination, and overwhelm with her at your side, gently encouraging with humor and heart. Discover more at her website, labourgeois.biz.

The post Boost Your Creativity with a Break appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sophfronia is a novelist and essayist whose work has appeared in Time, People, O: The Oprah Magazine, as well as many other outlets. Her first novel, All I Need to Get By, was nominated for best new author at the African American Literary Awards and Sophfronia was hailed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. as “one of the best writers of her generation.”

She is a prolific writer whose work spans both fiction and nonfiction, and her other books include Unforgivable Love, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, which she co-wrote with her son Tain. Her essays “The Legs On Which I Move” and “Why I Didn’t Go to the Firehouse” are listed in the Best American Essays series. Her next book is The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, and is out now from Broadleaf Books.

The recipient of a 2020 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Sophfronia holds degrees from Harvard and the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, which is a low-residency grad program based in Alma, Michigan.

This interview is a little bit of a departure from our usual subject matter of authors talking about their latest books and instead Sophfronia and I will be doing a deep dive on MFA pedagogy. As you know, the DIY MFA philosophy is not anti-MFA, and we strive to complement what MFA programs are already doing quite well. And, of course, when I build new curriculum for DIY MFA, I draw from my own experiences as a MFA student, along with several other sources as well. I am beyond thrilled to have Sophfronia on the show to talk about writing, MFA programs, and a writer’s education.

In this episode Sophfronia and I discuss:

• How her background in journalism, ghostwriting, and her desire to coach other writers inspired her to pursue an MFA. 
• What a low residency MFA program can prepare you for a full time career as a writer as well as the logistics and benefits of attending one.
• Why reading and building community are imperative to the DIY MFA experience as well as a writer’s life and growth.

Plus, their #1 tip for writers.

About Sophfronia Scott

Sophfronia Scott is a novelist, essayist, and leading contemplative thinker whose work has appeared in Time, People, O: The Oprah Magazine, and numerous other outlets. When her first novel, All I Need to Get By, was published, she was nominated for best new author at the African American Literary Awards and hailed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. as “one of the best writers of her generation.” Her other books include Unforgivable Love, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, co-written with her son Tain. Sophfronia’s essays “The Legs On Which I Move” and “Why I Didn’t Go to the Firehouse” are listed among the Notables in the Best American Essays series. Her next book, The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, will be published in March 2021 from Broadleaf Books.

The recipient of a 2020 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Sophfronia holds degrees from Harvard and the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, a low-residency program based in Alma, Michigan but she lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where she continues to fight a losing battle against the weeds in her flower beds.

Find out more about Sophfronia on her website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Goodreads.

The Seeker and the Monk 

What if we truly belong to each other? What if we are all walking around shining like the sun?

Mystic, monk, and activist Thomas Merton asked those questions in the twentieth century. Writer Sophfronia Scott is asking them today.

In The Seeker and the Monk, Scott mines the extensive private journals of one of the most influential contemplative thinkers of the past for guidance on how to live in these fraught times.

As a Black woman who is not Catholic, Scott both learns from and pushes back against Merton, holding spirited, and intimate conversations on race, ambition, faith, activism, nature, prayer, friendship, and love. She asks: What is the connection between contemplation and action? Is there ever such a thing as a wrong answer to a spiritual question? How do we care about the brutality in the world while not becoming overwhelmed by it?

By engaging in this lively discourse, readers will gain a steady sense of how to dwell more deeply within–and even to love–this despairing and radiant world.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 351

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 351: The Education of a Writer – Interview with Sophfronia Scott appeared first on DIY MFA.

Come in with clear intentions

Whether you’re joining a community workshop or forming a smaller, more focused group, be clear about what you and your peers are getting out of the arrangement. A meeting can be a deadline, an idea generator, or a place to polish your work. Sharing your level of commitment will help you understand if it fits with the group’s — I’ve seen a well-meaning community workshop hijacked by a zany drop-in who insisted we didn’t appreciate his exquisite haiku. A classic case of rampant ego seeking only validation, the solution might be to…

Set and respect boundaries

On a functional level, having a healthy writing group means establishing a general structure and organization. At my novel group’s first session, we decided on bi-weekly meetings, approximately 3,000 words submissions, and comments via Google Docs. Everyone sends their work with enough time to read, critique, and prepare notes on the group’s feedback. Respecting boundaries makes them real and reinforcing the system reduces interpersonal friction. This means when we meet, our full focus is on our writing rather than guzzling wine to assuage petty frustrations. Which isn’t to say, there’s never wine…

Give freely

Having a healthy writing group means giving freely. The more I read my group’s work, the more my pseudo-parental pride bursts from me — I’ll be biking home from the library and I’ll have an idea about someone else’s book. I’ll be more excited to read their chapters than edit my own. So I tell them. By giving freely, the group becomes more than a bi-weekly three-hour video conference with additional reading and editing work. It’s a nurturing ecosystem of support, ideas, and writerly energy. That said, if someone casually quadruples their word count, I’m comfortable re-establishing the discussed boundaries. Rules two and three go hand in hand.

Create space for diversity and differing opinions

The essence of writing is translating your thoughts to the reader, and having diverse editors — be it in race, age, gender, sexuality, nationality, and even writing experience — helps enormously with this clarity. Diversity also means creating a space for differing perspectives to be heard. If someone is shaking their head or pursing their lips, I’ll dare myself to say, “You look like you disagree.” Other times silence can be an indicator: “Do you have any thoughts on this?”

As satisfied as my college classmate must’ve felt when his best friend parried my criticism, workshopping isn’t about always having someone in your corner. Constant affirmation may boost your ego at the expense of your manuscript. And if you’re not in a place to integrate feedback, maybe it’s better to share your work with a kind friend or furry companion.

Embrace the process over the outcome

This is also known as “growth mindset,” a wonderful concept in life and writing. While I have dreams of a book deal which lands my novel on both sides of the Atlantic, this fantastical outcome is not the main reason I’m in a writing group. I show up because I want my book to be the best it can be, and as my cohort patiently corrects my bad habits, my writing is improving.

What’s more, it’s a virtuous cycle — as I become a better reader and editor, I also become a better writer. And the process is so enjoyable, I find myself diving into revisions eager to implement the ideas that came from our previous meeting. After slogging through years of drafts of my first novel, I’m so much happier and more efficient, I can’t even self-identify as a tortured artist.

A few days ago, another woman in my group and I submitted our novels’ final chapters. Paris’ bars and restaurants are closed and we have a 6 P.M curfew, so after our weekly library writing date, we took a bottle of wine to the quays. It was a cheeky 4:30 P.M happy hour and worth every minute. As we toasted to our hard-earned progress, I couldn’t have been further from the intimidated freshwoman with an inadequate vocabulary — that workshop skirmish was merely a misstep on the path to healthy literary relationships.

In case you’re feeling inspired to start a new relationship, I host a monthly writer’s workshop through Paris Lit Up. We’re free and currently virtual, and you’re welcome to join and put this list to Practice.

Gracie Bialecki is a writer and literary coach who lives in Paris, France. Her work has appeared in The Atticus Review, Monkeybicycle, and Epiphany Magazine where she was a monthly columnist. Bialecki is the co-founder of the storytelling series Thirst, a poetry editor at Paris Lit Up, and the author of the novel Purple Gold (ANTIBOOKCLUB).

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Have a Healthy Relationship With Your Writing Group appeared first on DIY MFA.

You just have to rethink how you go about it.

Just follow these steps. 

1. Shop Around

The best place to start for a great newsletter is by knowing, in general, what you love in a newsletter. So for a couple weeks, go ahead and sign up for every single email newsletter you come across. Other authors, news outlets, experts, shopping websites, everything. 

Then, watch it all come in. What trends do you see? How are different people and companies going about their emails differently? What kinds of layouts catch your eye? Take it all in, and question every piece of it. 

And more than anything else, pay attention to what you enjoy. For some, it might be the top quality curated links a certain person has an uncanny knack for pulling together on a theme. Or, maybe it’s the simple elegance of ample white space. Maybe it’s the digestible quick hit of a top 5 list, or the satisfying deep dive into a topic you’re passionate about. 

There’s no right or wrong answer here, just note your observations. 

2. Create Your Own Template

This is where it starts to get fun: Consider the notes you took in step one as you took in all different kinds of newsletters. 

• If a snarky headline enticed you to open an email right away, find ways to add your own humor into the subject lines. 
• If a picture of an author’s dog gave you the warm fuzzies, your cat might do the same for your subscribers. 
• If you lost yourself in the latest updates about an author’s creative process, find ways to give your own subscribers a glimpse into how you work. 

Don’t think in terms of topics, here — think in terms of sections, pieces you can offer a variation on every time. Then stack them together, keeping an eye out for balance between meatier content that will offer readers a bit of depth and smaller bites that will give snackable satisfaction. 

And of course, don’t forget your goal is to keep in touch with readers who will want your books. As long as you have reasonable tie-in to what you write about in some way, you’re golden. 

3. Commit to a Schedule

Now that you know what combination of content is going to keep you excited to write a newsletter, it’s time to figure out your schedule. 

How frequently can you create the content in the template you created, at top quality? 

Once a month? Once a week? Once a quarter? There’s really no right or wrong to this, just find a workflow that’s a reasonable commitment. (Okay, if you can’t  commit to once every three months with confidence, reassess what you’re including in your newsletter and make it less demanding to create —that’s a bare minimum frequency).

And hey, no pressure. If you commit to a frequency that later proves overly ambitious, you have the power to change it. You’re the boss of this little publication, after all. 

4. Promote 

While there’s nothing wrong with slow, steady growth, a newsletter is undeniably more fun when you have an audience to address. Which means you need to invite people to subscribe. 

Start by creating a snappy description of what readers can expect from your newsletter. This works best when it’s specific, short and matches the tone of the newsletter itself. 

Then, drop that thing everywhere you can–your website, your social media profiles, your email signature, swag, everything. Your fans will be sure to catch on!

Have Fun with Your Newsletter

Newsletters are an amazing way to stay in touch with readers, share more of yourself and your work, and stay in touch between new releases. So don’t let the idea of a newsletter intimidate or frustrate you–choose to include content that you’ll enjoy creating and sharing with your fans. 

Over time, you can learn more about what your readers love by monitoring your engagement analytics and hone it even further if you need to. But by starting with a formula of content you know you’ll love creating, you’re much more likely to stick with it. Odds are, that enthusiasm will be contagious, and your subscribers will have more fun, too. 

By day, E. J. Wenstrom is a content marketing and public relations expert. By early early morning, she’s the award-winning author of the Chronicles of the Third Realm War series. Join her email list for bookish news and a free download of the TRW series prequel RAIN at www.ejwenstrom.com.

The post The Secret Formula to Author Newsletter Joy appeared first on DIY MFA.

The Beginning Was a Struggle

Back then, I was struggling to make it as a writer. I’d gotten exactly one short story published, and was among the throngs at the conference desperate to pitch to a literary agent. I had been working hard, but it felt like I was never going to get where I wanted to go. That was the mental place I was in when Gabriela started to speak. And somehow, even though it wasn’t even about my project, she said exactly what I needed to hear. She showed me that there was a path— a path that others had taken before me, a path that could illuminate my next steps. She showed me that it was normal to feel discouraged, but that there were places to draw courage from. She inspired me so much that when I left that room, clutching my worksheet with the DIY MFA logo on it, my gut instinct was screaming at me: “This is important. I want more of this.”

I immediately bookmarked the DIY MFA website. Then I thought up a question from the conference presentation to email Gabriela, solely for the purpose of establishing contact. I started reading the blog regularly. When Bess, then-editor of the site, published a post requesting submissions for their “5 on Friday” series, I jumped at the chance to write for DIY MFA. After a few of my posts were accepted, Bess and Gabriela invited me to join the team as a columnist. At subsequent Writer’s Digest Conferences, I wasn’t just an audience member. I went to DIY MFA gatherings, had dinner with the team, and once even recorded a podcast episode. 

DIY MFA Helped Me Build Community

This sort of inclusivity affected me deeply. I began to call myself a writer. I felt braver about reaching out to agents and publishers, and my writing resume grew. Gabriela showed me a path, and she showed me that I wasn’t alone, and that was all I needed to get where I am today. A place that I’m proud of. 

You may wonder why I’m telling this story, after nearly six years of writing the “Be Well, Write Well” column for DIY MFA. Sadly, this is to be my last column. Just as I felt compelled back then to reach out, I feel compelled now to move on. But I couldn’t leave without expressing my gratitude to Gabriela and DIY MFA, or imparting a few last pieces of wisdom. 

Be Well and Write Well

So, for the last time, here’s how to Be Well and Write Well: 

Keep your eyes open. Try new things. When in-person conferences happen again, go to them, and meet people. Listen to a new podcast; follow a new writer; reach out to an author on Twitter. Trust your gut. If your gut tells you that someone inspires you, stick with that person. If your gut tells you, “This is important. I want more of this,” go out and get more of it. Deepen your relationship until you’re a part of the conversation too. 

As you grow, inspire others with what you’ve learned. Be kind to those who come to you for help. Mentor whomever you can. Instruct with empathy and encouragement. Teach from the heart. 

When your writing life stagnates again— as it will, because it does for everyone— repeat the cycle. Keep your eyes open. Trust your gut. Deepen your relationships. Help others. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It all pays off, even when you can’t see it yet. It all leads somewhere, even when the path isn’t fully illuminated from the start. 

DIY MFA readers, team members and friends— thank you for allowing me a voice in this incredible community. I value each and every one of you, and I will carry all of your voices with me as I move forward. 

And Gabriela— thank you for being the first writer to show me the path. 

Leanne Sowul is an award-winning writer and music teacher whose work has appeared in such places as JuxtaProse Magazine, Barnstorm Journal, Rappahannock Review, Hippocampus, and Mothers Always Write; her live readings include Read 650’s “Gratitude” show at Lincoln Center. As an elementary band director, Leanne can play every woodwind, brass and percussion instrument (just don’t give her a cello!) and has directed over two hundred student performances. She also coaches adults in the art of creative practice through her newsletter, The Joyful Creative. In 2017, Leanne won both the Scott Meyer Award for personal essay and the All-American Dream Champion Award for music teaching. Leanne lives with her husband and two children in the Hudson Valley. Connect with her at leannesowul.com or on Twitter and Instagram @sowulwords. 

The post Trust Your Gut: My DIY MFA Story appeared first on DIY MFA.