Today I wanted to talk about a process I go through every winter season to set goals and break them down into manageable pieces. Every year, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I take some time out with my journal and iPad in hand, and I map out my coming year. Mapping Out… Read more »
We’re back with another 3-act structure analysis. Last time I did one of these, it was a deep dive into Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. But three-act structure doesn’t just apply to books written hundreds of years ago. To underscore that point, I thought I’d switch things up and do a three-act analysis of… Read more »
Have you ever played Myst? It’s an immersive adventure video game from 1993 and I was obsessed with it when I was in high school. It was a time long before you could easily Google for clues or hints, so it took me months to solve all the puzzles. I remember when I finally figured… Read more »
A lot of people think world-building only applies to fantasy, where you have elaborate maps of sprawling kingdoms. Or maybe they think it applies to sci-fi or historical fiction, where you have to bring to life all the intricacies of the story’s world. Whether you write something “world heavy,” or your story’s world is a… Read more »
In my last post, The Three-Act Structure, I talked about how this storytelling framework works. Today, I thought I would do a three-act analysis of Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite books of all time. Spoiler Alert! Obviously, we can’t talk about the structure of a book without mentioning the ending and giving away… Read more »
In my last post, I talked about why I started DIY MFA and how to create your own do-it-yourself, MFA-style education. Today, I wanted to take a few moments to share the story of how DIY MFA got started. As you’ll find, the month of September has a special significance to DIY MFA. Of course,… Read more »
Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today’s episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson #6 – Balance is Fallacy. Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is… Read more »
Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today’s episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 5 – Choose Abundance Over Scarcity Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This… Read more »
Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today’s episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 4 – Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet?… Read more »
Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today’s episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 3 – Embrace the Power of Iteration Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet?… Read more »
