Hey Word Nerds! Welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I want to talk to you about a crucial part of my own creative life: The Brain Book. It’s my portable office. When I have the Brain Book with me I know I can be creatively productive anytime, anywhere. Not only does the… Read more »
April is poetry month and today I read So, You Want to Be a Writer? by Charles Bukowski. This might just be my favorite poem of all time about writing. Except maybe for this one and this other one. (But I digress.) Anyway hop on over and read the Bukowski poem right now. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Great, you’re back. Why did… Read more »
Hello and happy holidays! Thanks so much for joining me this week for our holiday episode of DIY MFA Radio. I’ve always loved the Santa Claus story. This is my favorite time of year and I love how festive and bright every thing is (even though, in NYC the weather is usually dark and grim)…. Read more »
Happy Halloween everyone! Since Halloween is this Friday, I wanted to dedicate this episode to things that go bump in the night by talking about creative monsters in our lives. Creative monsters take many forms and use a variety of techniques to rip our creative ideas and spirit to shreds. In this episode, we’ll learn… Read more »
In today’s episode I want to talk to you about writer’s block. Specifically, the 5 stages of writer’s block, inspired by the Kübler-Ross stages of grief. If you’ve ever experienced writer’s block, you know that you have to get through all these stages to be able to get back to writing. Writer’s block is painful,… Read more »
People think creativity exists only when options are endless. The truth is that infinite possibilities can be paralyzing. There’s research to support this: that when people have too many options, they’re much less likely to take decisive action. But setting limits for your writing can be a good thing. It’s only in limiting your choices… Read more »
As creative people, we look at the way our right brains work, and think we’re alone in that. We think we’re the only people who have certain ways of working or certain problems in our work. Believing you’re alone,that it’s “just you” and “just the way you work” can hold you back. When you understand what’s… Read more »
Charged with writing an article on the topic of “inspiration on demand,” I considered the usual suspects—those tips and tricks that help spur my own creativity. I thought of all the wonderful sources for inspiration—such as this website’s Writer Igniter page or the Prompt-a-Palooza writing prompts I offer on my own blog each Monday. I… Read more »
When we started our website, Final Deadline, we made creativity our business. For those looking to get creative, here are four simple steps from the murky pool of our collective wisdom. 1) Panic! So the deadline’s tomorrow and your wordcount is still smaller than your bank balance; the more conventional advice might be, “Don’t panic.” This… Read more »
We’ve introduced the DIY MFA reading and community resources, but in the end, it all comes down to writing. Sooner or later writers need to get their backsides in the chair and do the work. To that end, we’ve created a go-to list of writing resources here at DIY MFA so that you to help… Read more »
