Summer is here, which means it’s conference season! It’s that time of year when a lot of writer’s organizations have their conferences and big events. Conferences are among my favorite things ever! I love hanging out with fellow writers and spending some dedicated time thinking about nothing but the craft and business or writing. At… Read more »
What do you do when you’re out of ideas? I have often struggled with this very problem. In fact, as I sit down to write this newsletter, I’m wondering what on earth I might have to say about writing that hasn’t already been said. Terrifying as it may seem, I suddenly find myself out of… Read more »
The use of generative AI in writing is a topic that comes up a lot in DIY MFA courses and programs. Let’s face it, this is probably the biggest technological revolution we’ve had in the writing space since movable type. As I’ve shared in the past, I am “AI-cautious.” I don’t like how many LLMs… Read more »
Today we’re doing a three-act analysis on one of the most beloved Christmas stories: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. While Dickens wrote many books examining the divide between rich and poor, I find A Christmas Carol the most compelling. Even with its compressed scope as a novella, it gives us a depth of character… Read more »
Today, I’m doing an analysis of Beauty and the Beast, one of my absolute favorite movies. This film never fails to tug at my heartstrings and the ending makes me cry every single time! I first saw this movie at a very pivotal moment in my life. I was in ninth grade and a total… Read more »
If you’ve ever listened to my podcast, DIY MFA Radio, you know that at the end of each interview, I would ask the same question: “What’s your #1 tip for writers?” As I was thinking of what to write for today’s newsletter, I asked myself that same question, and I came up with not one,… Read more »
“Subplots are like the adjectives of your main story/sentence. You can still understand the sentence without them, but it’s not as fascinating.” ~Charlie Holmberg I love this quote because I think it captures the nature of subplots to a T. The main plot is like a noun or verb in a sentence, it’s the part… Read more »
We’re back with another story structure analysis. This time, we’re doing a three-act analysis of The Princess Bride, which happens to be another one of my all-time favorite movies. This film is not to be confused with the book by the same title. The book is entirely different and, frankly, I find this to be… Read more »
I’ve been thinking a lot about all the writing resources that are out there on the web—both free and not free. This got me wondering: “How do we manage it all? How do we tell what’s good from what’s not? And how do we know our time and money will be well spent?” In other… Read more »
Over the past few months, I’ve shared some 3-Act analyses of various different movies, books, and stories. These analyses have included things like the book Pride and Prejudice, the movie Die Hard, and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” It can be useful to look at examples of the three-act structure in action, but… Read more »
