Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for October is Horror/Suspense, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Susan J. Austin and I discuss:

• Organizing your historical research for ease of use in your writing.
• Writing for the specific reading level of your audience. 
• Re-engaging with a manuscript that you have set aside for a while.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Susan J. Austin 

As an educator, Susan J. Austin knows the minds of young readers. Her first novel, The Bamboo Garden, is set in Berkeley, California, 1923, and describes an unlikely friendship between two girls that is tested by a fierce fire that threatens to destroy their town. Currently, she is writing about twelve-year-old Goldie, a whiz kid in the kitchen who hopes that her culinary magic can help her family’s delicatessen out of a pickle in 1928 Hollywood. Her characters are always brave, strong-willed risk-takers. Writing historical fiction offers her a way to educate and excite her readers about the past. She and her husband live in Northern California, surrounded by family, their splendid but fussy rose bushes, and a lifetime collection of books. Learn more at www.susanjaustin.com.

Drawing Outside the Lines

Drawing Outside the Lines is an imagined childhood of pioneering architect Julia Morgan, who left behind an extraordinary legacy of creativity, beauty, and engineering marvels.

In 1883, eleven-year-old Julia visits the amazing new Brooklyn Bridge, an experience that ignites within her a small but persistent flame. Someday, she too will build something wonderful. Her journey is not easy. Growing up in horse-and-buggy Oakland, she enjoys daring fence walks, climbing the tallest trees, and constantly testing her mother’s patience with her lack of interest in domestic duties and social events. 

At a time when “brainy” girls are the object of ridicule, Julia excels in school and consistently outsmarts her ornery brothers. A greater battle awaits her in college. The male students taunt her, and the professors belittle her. Through it all, Julia holds on to her dream of becoming an architect. She faces each challenge head-on, firmly standing up to those who are convinced that a woman’s place is in the home. Fortunately, the world is about to meet the indomitable Miss Morgan.

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 431

(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 431: Writing the Imagined Childhood of a Historical Figure for Middle Grade Readers – Interview with Susan J. Austin appeared first on DIY MFA.

Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! 

The theme for April is Picture Books, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Jody Hadlock and Lori discuss:

• The research process and how to blend primary and secondary sources.
• Why finding the right point of view is so important to the writing process.
• What role context plays in writing about the past and how to integrate it into your plot.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Jody Hadlock

After studying journalism at Texas A&M University, Jody Hadlock was a television news reporter and anchor in Bryan-College Station, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; and San Antonio, Texas. She now lives near Fort Worth with her husband. For several years Jody served on the board of directors of North Texas Special Needs Assistance Partners (SNAP), a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live the fullest lives possible in their communities. The Lives of Diamond Bessie is her first novel.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads.

The Lives of Diamond Bessie

Inspired by a true story….

Pregnant out of wedlock, sixteen-year-old Annie Moore is sent to live at a convent for fallen women. When the nuns take her baby, Annie escapes, determined to find a way to be reunited with her daughter. But few rights or opportunities are available to a woman in the 1860s, and after failing to find a respectable job, she resorts to prostitution in order to survive. 

As a highly sought-after demi-mondaine, Annie—now Bessie—garners many expensive gifts from her admirers and eventually meets and marries the son of a wealthy jeweler, a traveling salesman with a gambling problem. With her marriage, she believes her dream of returning to proper society has finally come true. She’s proven wrong when she suffers the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she thought would be her salvation. But Bessie doesn’t let her story end there. 

Set against the backdrop of the burgeoning women’s rights movement, The Lives of Diamond Bessie is a haunting tale of betrayal and redemption that explores whether seeking revenge is worth the price you might pay.

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 404

(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 404: How to Turn Historical Figures into Characters for Your Novel – Interview with Jody Hadlock appeared first on DIY MFA.

I’ve met and become friends with lots of writers over the years. If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we’re curious. I believe it’s curiosity, that insatiable desire to explore and push boundaries, that leads many of us to spend hours, months, and even years sitting behind a computer or scratching out a story with pen and paper. Certainly this is true for non-fiction authors. I believe it’s true for fiction writers, too. The topic of this piece is hands-on writing with a focus on non-fiction. How can you write about something you know little about while staying authentic and not ending up with something that sounds like a Wikipedia article?

Writing for me starts as a whisper. There is a tiny waft of interest that floats like a dandelion’s parachute seed into my consciousness. If it’s a good idea, it stays entrenched, and soon tugs and pulls and prods me into finding out more. If I’m truly interested and want to pursue it further, I’ll start some hands-on research. This ‘head writing,’ the initial phase of writing, comes far in advance of any actual composition. It’s time for me to get to know what I’ll write.

Research Tip #1: Talk to People

I can claim to be an expert on, well, not much. But for every topic under the sun, with nearly eight billion people on our beautiful planet, there are plenty out there who do have the relevant expertise. Lately I’ve been writing biographies. Obviously, with a story about a specific person, the best source is that person. My job, then, is to tease out a story from the subject’s rambling thoughts. I don’t usually start with the interview, however. My thoughts—and theirs—are too disjointed. Whenever I’m writing about someone’s life, I begin by finding out what I can from books and online sources. I take notes and even go so far as to write a rough outline. That way, when I finally do talk to the person, I know what I want to ask. I already have threads that seem interesting. I pinpoint my questions for my hands-on research to learn about and expand these threads, thus creating a viable and engaging story.

Research Tip #2: Find out the “Why”

To understand a topic, it’s valuable to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Or, if you’re writing about extreme sports, you can climb, run, or parachute in someone else’s figurative shoes. For example, I interviewed nearly two dozen people for Thrill Seekers. One theme that kept coming up over and over was that, hands-down, these women were fervently invested in their sport. They lived, breathed, and adored what they were doing. But why? There was often little if any tangible reward. Despite the challenge and even danger of the sport, the women remained deeply rooted in their passion. I spoke with one person who quit her 6-figure job to pursue professional skydiving. I interviewed someone who relocated to Europe with little money and just her sports equipment in her suitcase. And let’s not forget the grit and sacrifice it takes to exercise your body into becoming a top athlete. I found out the “why.” In pursuing these outside-the-line activities, pushing themselves to greater and greater challenges, each had found a beautiful appreciation of what it means to be human.

Research Tip #3: Try it Yourself

I’m not and never have been a super athlete. With my exercise videos, walks, and occasional runs measured at a slightly more than snail’s pace, let’s give me the benefit of the doubt and say I’m average. So what is the allure of extreme sports? When I was lucky enough to sign up for a scuba lesson at a local resort, I had no idea how scary it was going to be to sit 5 feet underwater and breathe through a mouthpiece. It felt wrong. It wasn’t logical. But then when it was okay, I walked into the ocean and witnessed the flight of a stingray firsthand. Then I felt the adrenaline rush of the racetrack, a noisy, high-octane affair in Richmond, Virginia. The ride-along in a Formula race car was exciting, enlightening, and made me feel alive. The pinnacle of my hands-on research was tandem skydiving, a total rush that awakened my senses and gave me an inkling into what propels my subjects into such a life. Maybe now I could start to write from experience—at least a little.  

Research Tip #4: Check for a Different Perspective

When I was sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool in scuba gear, I looked up and I wasn’t drowning. It was a bizarre and novel experience to breathe underwater, as different a perspective as humanly possible. Similarly, when studying history or learning about extreme sports, hands-on research that includes diverse viewpoints is crucial. If it’s people I’m writing about, I try to solicit a broad assortment of backgrounds and viewpoints. If it’s a topic area, I’m careful to read widely and to incorporate a variety of outlooks to avoid bias. When I’m including facts, I check multiple sources—at least three—to verify the accuracy. When gleaning information from the web, it’s easy to find mistakes in articles and other sources. Wherever possible, I look for reputable sources to confirm information.

Research Tip #5: Get Organized

It’s fun to learn and discover but easy to get overwhelmed. Without some sort of organizational process, pieces of insight gather together into a tangled mess, sort of like how I recently packed away the Christmas lights. But moving on. Organization really is a key component of getting from A—excellent but untried idea—to B—cohesive writing project. Of course, depending on the size of the project, there are steps C through Z as well … When I begin a project, I buy spiral notebooks for my note taking. I prefer the feeling of pen on paper for this initial step. I read books, either from the library or purchased, and I comb the internet. While the web is limited, I find that videos are often extremely helpful, especially when I’m writing about real people and want to know what they’re like. I also reserve a couple of pages in my notebook for a timeline. Having a chronological record of important events helps frame the hands-on research. Once I have several pages of notes, I go over them and highlight pieces that are especially relevant. Then I come up with my inciting incident, that first anecdote or discussion that I hope will hook the reader as strongly as it hooked me. I prepare a brief outline and then dive in.

Finding out something new is, to me, a privilege and a pleasure. In the end, I do end up writing what I know more about—but only after the process of hands-on learning.

A high school English as a Second Language teacher by day, Ann has eight traditionally published books—she recently signed a contract for a ninth. While she is represented by James McGowan at BookEnds Literary, for many years she worked without an agent. She learned the craft through dogged determination and believes strongly in the concept of community. Her critique group is integral to her success. Today, reading, writing, and exploring are Ann’s hobbies. She is intensely curious and looks for the goodness around her. Here is some video buzz about her newest book. 

The post #5onFri: Five Hands-On Research Techniques for Spot-On Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.