Sophfronia is a novelist and essayist whose work has appeared in Time, People, O: The Oprah Magazine, as well as many other outlets. Her first novel, All I Need to Get By, was nominated for best new author at the African American Literary Awards and Sophfronia was hailed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. as “one of the best writers of her generation.”

She is a prolific writer whose work spans both fiction and nonfiction, and her other books include Unforgivable Love, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, which she co-wrote with her son Tain. Her essays “The Legs On Which I Move” and “Why I Didn’t Go to the Firehouse” are listed in the Best American Essays series. Her next book is The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, and is out now from Broadleaf Books.

The recipient of a 2020 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Sophfronia holds degrees from Harvard and the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, which is a low-residency grad program based in Alma, Michigan.

This interview is a little bit of a departure from our usual subject matter of authors talking about their latest books and instead Sophfronia and I will be doing a deep dive on MFA pedagogy. As you know, the DIY MFA philosophy is not anti-MFA, and we strive to complement what MFA programs are already doing quite well. And, of course, when I build new curriculum for DIY MFA, I draw from my own experiences as a MFA student, along with several other sources as well. I am beyond thrilled to have Sophfronia on the show to talk about writing, MFA programs, and a writer’s education.

In this episode Sophfronia and I discuss:

• How her background in journalism, ghostwriting, and her desire to coach other writers inspired her to pursue an MFA. 
• What a low residency MFA program can prepare you for a full time career as a writer as well as the logistics and benefits of attending one.
• Why reading and building community are imperative to the DIY MFA experience as well as a writer’s life and growth.

Plus, their #1 tip for writers.

About Sophfronia Scott

Sophfronia Scott is a novelist, essayist, and leading contemplative thinker whose work has appeared in Time, People, O: The Oprah Magazine, and numerous other outlets. When her first novel, All I Need to Get By, was published, she was nominated for best new author at the African American Literary Awards and hailed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. as “one of the best writers of her generation.” Her other books include Unforgivable Love, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, co-written with her son Tain. Sophfronia’s essays “The Legs On Which I Move” and “Why I Didn’t Go to the Firehouse” are listed among the Notables in the Best American Essays series. Her next book, The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, will be published in March 2021 from Broadleaf Books.

The recipient of a 2020 Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Sophfronia holds degrees from Harvard and the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, a low-residency program based in Alma, Michigan but she lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where she continues to fight a losing battle against the weeds in her flower beds.

Find out more about Sophfronia on her website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Goodreads.

The Seeker and the Monk 

What if we truly belong to each other? What if we are all walking around shining like the sun?

Mystic, monk, and activist Thomas Merton asked those questions in the twentieth century. Writer Sophfronia Scott is asking them today.

In The Seeker and the Monk, Scott mines the extensive private journals of one of the most influential contemplative thinkers of the past for guidance on how to live in these fraught times.

As a Black woman who is not Catholic, Scott both learns from and pushes back against Merton, holding spirited, and intimate conversations on race, ambition, faith, activism, nature, prayer, friendship, and love. She asks: What is the connection between contemplation and action? Is there ever such a thing as a wrong answer to a spiritual question? How do we care about the brutality in the world while not becoming overwhelmed by it?

By engaging in this lively discourse, readers will gain a steady sense of how to dwell more deeply within–and even to love–this despairing and radiant world.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 351

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 351: The Education of a Writer – Interview with Sophfronia Scott appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Matt Hongoltz-Hetling.

Matt is a freelance journalist specializing in narrative features and investigative reporting. He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, has won a George Polk Award, and has been voted Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press association, as well as many other honors.

His work has appeared in varied publications, like USA Today, Popular Science, and the Associated Press, as well as many others. Today we’ll be talking about his nonfiction book: A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears).

In this episode Matt and I discuss:

• Where he visited to conduct interviews with locals that inspired his book.
• How to build positive relationships in the publishing industry when you are not naturally outgoing.
• What fiction and nonfiction have in common.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About the Author

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling is a freelance journalist specializing in narrative features and investigative reporting. He has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, won a George Polk Award, and been voted Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press association, among numerous other honors. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, USA Today, Popular Science, Atavist Magazine, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Associated Press, and elsewhere. He lives in New Hampshire.

You can learn more about Matt by visiting his website or following him on Twitter.

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) 

Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road.

When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, barely heard in the town’s thick wilderness.

The new rules soon caught the attention of Grafton’s neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city, in an effort to get off the grid. The bears smelled food and opportunity.

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is a sometimes funny, sometimes frightening tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is a quintessentially American story, a bearing of our national soul.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 321

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 321: From Feature Article to Book: The Art of Storytelling in Nonfiction – Interview with Matt Hongoltz-Hetling appeared first on DIY MFA.

Since then, I’ve split my time between writing for various media publications and sending fiction shorts to literary magazines. I call myself a storyteller, but the truth is, storytelling comes in many different forms.

Being a reporter is rewarding: Besides the byline, you’re informing the public of what’s going on in the community and writing about real people, real stories. But being a reporter can also be difficult: You have to stick with facts, and you have to tell them in the most compelling way. Surprisingly, one of the best things about being a journalist has been learning skills that have also helped me be a better creative writer.

Research is Essential

Before I begin a story assignment, I take about 20 minutes to do background research on related issues and prepare for interviews. Who are the key players – members of the town council? The school board? What impact does the issue have on future policy decisions? I also read recently written articles to make sure my angle hasn’t been covered yet. This helps me understand the issue better, so that when I pick up the phone and start making calls, folks on the other line know I’ve done my homework.

As tedious and boring as it may seem, research is important for every writing project – even novels. Delve into the background of your characters. Look up the meanings of different names. If your novel takes place in, say, Boston, then find out what the most popular hangouts are and what the city is best known for (thank goodness for the internet). If your main character is a sports fanatic, then you’ll need to know where Fenway Park is and who’s on the Red Sox team. All of these details will affect your characters and their daily lives as they are unfolded in the story.

Good Writing Starts With a Punchy Lede

Your third grade language arts teacher was onto something when she told you, “Hook the reader from the very beginning.” I used to start every news article with a cold hard fact: “On Saturday, the town council voted unanimously on Bill X, which will affect such-and-such.” Bor-ring! It wasn’t until I started writing weekly feature articles for the local newspaper that I learned how to write a good beginning. Short sentences are better than long-winded ones. Appeal to the reader’s senses and universal experiences. Word play can be effective as long as it’s not too, well, punny.

Fiction is no different. Good stories start out with a “punchy lede” that the reader can somehow identify with. Sometimes, I open up a story with a character anecdote, or start right in the middle of an action scene. Dialogue easily catches a reader’s eye. A punchy lede provides just enough information to lock your readers in and keep them intrigued.

Here is the opening of my short story, “The Colors of Sound,” which was published in the spring 2012 issue of The Collegiate Scholar.

“People tend to think that when you’re blind, you also can’t hear. Or talk, even. Sometimes when I catch those whispers over my shoulder I feel inclined to tell the whisperers that I’m Helen Keller’s twelve-year-old twin. I know there’s really no point but it’s kind of interesting to sense their astonishment through the silence once they find out I’m just like them. Almost, at least.”

Deadlines and Timeliness Matter

Journalists thrive on deadlines. The rush keeps them going. They receive an assignment at noon, hunt down the story and find a way to have copy in their editors’ hands before the paper goes to press the next morning. The story itself needs to be timely as well. I mean, news isn’t news if it does not report what’s happening right now.

You may wonder what deadlines have anything to do with creative writing. After all, your story is fiction – not breaking news. Ask any NaNoer what the most important part about the writing challenge is, and he or she will say, “Speed. Time. Getting the words down.” As an avid NaNoer, I agree. Without creating a timeline for myself, I would have never reached 50,000 words on Nov. 31, 2008. I resolved to write 1,700 words every day, and sometimes wrote whole chapters in one sitting. All that mattered was reaching that 50k mark by deadline.

While quantity over quality may not be everyone’s motto, time is still a crucial factor that can make or break your literary success. When you plan to send a short story to a literary magazine, you have to meet a submission deadline. If you resolve to self-publish a novel by Christmas, you’ve set a target date. Procrastination isn’t an option, unless you want to push everything else – the editing, the cover design, the promo events – back a month or two or three. Without pacing yourself and checking your progress as time passes by, that novel may never get done.

While some days are harder than others, I love being a storyteller. On face value, journalism and creative writing may seem like polar opposites that require different talents: Journalists get to the point and strive to be objective, while creative writers are anything but. Still, they use similar skill sets for their respective crafts – they both use words to transport their readers elsewhere. They both need to know how to persuade you and grab your attention. Above all, they’re both good communicators. Perhaps they aren’t so different after all.

Wendy Lu is the entertainment editor for Blue & White magazine, a former book publishing intern and a NaNoWriMo 2008 winner. She writes a little bit of everything and blogs about creativity and happiness at wendyluwrites.blogspot.com. Her work has appeared in The Daily Tar Heel, The Collegiate Scholar and Chapel Hill Magazine’s The WEEKLY.

The post Creative Writing Lessons from a Reporter appeared first on DIY MFA.