I was finally on my way! I had started my Young Adult (YA) Fantasy novel over 20 years earlier, building the world, the characters, and the story in fits and starts on vacations or in between life’s daily demands, mostly surrendering to my reality. Then in July of 2019, I retired and I promised myself… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Sara Schaff. Sara Schaff is the author of two short story collections The Invention of Love and Say Something Nice About Me. She is a CLMP Firecracker Award Finalist in fiction and a finalist for the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award for short fiction. Her writing has… Read more »
It is fascinating how past experiences culminate into the present, creating beliefs. Taking part in critique was, at times, akin to a battlefield. The gauntlet was daunting and sometimes painful. In academia, I developed shied away from peer critique and moved toward mentors and professionals for feedback after much proactive work on my part. As… Read more »
As writers, we’re told to develop thick skins. The world of writing is full of both wanted and unwanted feedback and criticism. But it is difficult to not let criticism seep into our very beings. Because fiction writers are emotionally attuned, critiques can cut deeply. And sometimes, writers tie their self-worth to the feedback they… Read more »
“Critique days” were met with both anxiety and excitement in my undergraduate creative writing courses. The whole class would sit in a circle and, one-by-one, we would each have our writing critiqued by both our peers and our instructors. Talk about nerve wracking. Sometimes the feedback would be helpful and encouraging. Other times, I would… Read more »
The first time I heard, “there’s nothing about the main character that makes me care about her,” it felt like someone punched me in the throat. Yes, a bit of a dramatic response, but right then and there that’s how I felt. I sat for days afterward wondering what was wrong with me. Had four… Read more »
Hello and thank you for joining me today! This episode covers one of my favorite topics: revision. A lot of people (mostly non-writers) think revision just means running your story through spell-check, change a few words here and there, then poof! Your manuscript is ready to submit. We writers know better than that. Revision is… Read more »
Thanks for joining me for Part One of the DIY MFA Radio series: An Insider’s Guide to Writing Groups. In this episode we’re going to talk about what to do before, during, and after receiving critique on your writing. One very important part of your writer’s journey is receiving feedback on your work. A critique group… Read more »
Few writers can thrive in isolation. Sooner or later, we all need a little boost in our writing, some external structure to help us make the jump to the next level. And a writing workshop can be a great way to do that. When I use the term “writing workshop” I’m talking about a group… Read more »
For today’s Write It! Wednesday (on a Friday) I’m going to need your help. If you haven’t already, please fill out our 2013 DIY MFA Survey. It’s short and sweet and will help us make DIY MFA so much better! Whether you’ve just discovered DIY MFA or you’ve been following the program from the very… Read more »
