Episode 470: Craft Jam: Draft Zero

Episode 470: Craft Jam: Draft Zero

Today’s episode is our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Lori and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we’ll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building, and more. This month’s episode is a… Read more »

Crafting the Parents in Your YA Novel | DIY MFA Blog | Dominique Richardson

Crafting the Parents in Your YA Novel

Who doesn’t love the daring feats of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley? And most of the time they’re acting independently, without a parent in sight. That being said, this independent action gets them in all sorts of trouble with not only parents, but their teachers and school headmaster, Dumbledore. That’s the thing with… Read more »

How to Nail Character Development in Picture Books

How to Nail Character Development in Picture Books

Picture books are their own unique art form, and often it’s a memorable main character that makes a picture book feel so special that you want to read it again and again and share it with everyone you know.  Whether the protagonist embodies the theme and goes on a singular adventure, or gets in trouble… Read more »

It’s Messy in the Middle: Answering the Call for Diversity

It’s Messy in the Middle: Answering the Call for Diversity

According to Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell in the 2004 comedy Anchorman, “diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.” Of course, this is both hilariously false and maybe the perfect metaphor for understanding the struggle around answering the call for diversity within the publishing world. Answering… Read more »

Kids on Bikes

Kids on Bikes and Kids on Brooms

Happy New Year! 2021 is behind us and I, for one, am looking toward the future with plans to blossom in new ways in my life and in my writing. To that end, I’ve decided to take this column in a new direction. In my previous posts, I covered how collaborative storytelling games can aid… Read more »

collaborative storytelling

Creating Characters Using Collaborative Storytelling

Writing may seem like a solitary practice, but writers have made use of writer’s groups and feedback circles for a long time. There is incalculable value in receiving outside input about your writing. Other people can see things about your writing that you may be blind to. However, writers’ groups can only critique the work… Read more »