Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing superheroes, those people who have shown me what it really means to be a writer. What I’ve realized is that in writing (as it is with most heroic feats) it’s not always the people you think of as heroes that end up saving the day. More… Read more »
Last week, I was inspired. Truly inspired. After several days of chaos and anxiety–worrying about and tracking down friends, family and colleagues–I finally ventured out into New York City to attend the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar. By some miracle, the hotel hosting the conference still had power (the blackout area started just a few blocks south)…. Read more »
You’re a writer. Time may be your most precious commodity, but your strongest asset is… people. That’s right. Even the lone writer needs people to make things happen. We can’t do this on our own. So why is it that this valuable asset–this community of twin souls–is often the first thing writers ignore or let… Read more »
Once upon a time, all authors had to do was write a good book. All that other stuff, like branding and publicity, was taken care of by the marketing experts. But times have changed and now more than ever the onus has been on writers to be part of both the writing and business sides… Read more »
Over the last twenty years, the music industry has been shaken to its core. The old ways (nab a record deal, record in a fancy studio, depend on your label to distribute and market) vanished and the new ways (record it yourself, distribute it digitally, promote via social networks and one-to-one community building) took hold…. Read more »
There are many types of writing workshops out there, some more effective than others at giving you useful feedback on your writing. Whether you’re new to the workshop scene or have been participating in critique sessions for a long time, there’s one workshop method that’s been proven time and again to help writers improve their… Read more »
We have a rule in the workshop I teach: we’ll critique any work as long as the writer has not yet submitted it for publication. When it comes to discussion, we’ll discuss any piece of writing published or not. Why this distinction between critique and discussion? And what exactly is the difference between the two? … Read more »
This week at DIY MFA we are working on something new and exciting: we’re creating a DIY MFA writing community. The plan is to use the DIY MFA Facebook page to create a forum where writers (that’s you!) can give and receive feedback to each other. We’re still working out the details so stay tuned… Read more »
As writers, we arguably make up the most enthusiastic, Twitter-friendly community out there. It logically follows that we should make the best of this amazing resource. Continuing our week-long series on favorite resources, here’s a list of 10 Twitter feeds we love to follow. Twitter Feeds for Writers Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig An all-things-writers feed,… Read more »
The first step to creating your DIY MFA is to take stock of where you are right now. Some of you might be just starting out on your writing journey, while others may have been writing for years. Either way is fine. While some of you might have plenty of time to devote to this project, others… Read more »
