We all play games. We use games to break the ice, pass the time, or as a buffer in awkward family gatherings. I use games (especially tabletop games) to make new friends, and deepen my understanding of the people in my life. Games show people at their best and at their worst. They reveal hidden… Read more »
In my previous article, I took you through the steps of starting a daily routine that will help you become more aware of yourself and your Writer’s Intuition. I want to tell you a secret about my own experience with this exercise. When I first started, I had a grand plan of taking my daily… 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 »
Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay May, an annual creativity challenge for short story writers. Julie has also published two books for writers, BECOMING A BETTER WRITER, and BREAKING THROUGH WRITER’S BLOCK. Julie Duffy will be talking about the creative process at Lit Loft. Follow her twitter (@storyadaymay) or find StoryADay… Read more »
In a past life (i.e. my early 20’s), I studied graphic design and worked as a toy developer. I designed hundreds of toys in those few short years and in the process learned a lot of techniques that would help my writing later on. When you work in a creative industry like toy design, you… Read more »
Writers have a number of fears–fear of failure, fear of success, fear of doing what they love–but perhaps the most insidious fear of all is that someone might steal their ideas. There’s been a lot of talk about this in the blogsphere lately. A few weeks ago, one writer blogged about sharing an idea with… Read more »
The Writer Igniter is a writing prompt generator with literally millions of possible story prompts. It currently exists as a web app right here at DIY MFA, but it hasn’t always been this high-tech. Read on to learn about the process behind how the DIY MFA Team and I developed this new feature. It all… Read more »
I’ve always wanted to go to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, but rarely had a chance to get there. Once upon a time, I think I went there on a school field trip, but it was a long time ago and I had never gone back since. Until this weekend. But even as I… Read more »
Have you ever had this experience? You come up with an idea for a book or story. You write a few chapters, get some feedback, maybe write another chapter or two. Then your entire world comes crashing down. You discover that someone else has written a book that’s similar to what you have. It’s not… Read more »
