Five Lessons I Learned Writing My First Middle Grade Novel

For the longest time, I only considered myself a contemporary young adult writer. I’d fallen in love with realistic teen stories, and I thought I’d found my writing niche. Last year, with three completed YA manuscripts under my belt, I started brainstorming my next idea. I decided to share my outline and first couple of… Read more »

SCBWI Conference 101

If you’ve read DIY MFA or have been following this website for a while, you know how important community is for writers. You need to find readers for your stories, but it’s also incredibly valuable to find other writers who write the same kinds of books as you. If you’re a kid lit writer (or… Read more »

Eight Reasons Adults Read YA

There have been a few condescending articles throughout the years about why adults should not read young adult literature. I won’t bother linking to any of them, because I think they’re totally wrong and don’t deserve the web traffic. Despite how these articles denounce YA lit, adults still make up a large percentage of its… Read more »