Writing a draft isn’t easy, but it is easily measurable. Every day, your word count increases. You probably know how many total words your manuscript needs to have in order to meet your genre conventions. By analyzing your typical daily pace, you can even plan how much time you need to get to the finish… Read more »
You’ve just finished writing your first draft! Woo-hoo! Now it’s time to jump in to the revision phase, polish, and make the story shine. NO! Full-stop writer. Cool those jets. Revision is not simply about making sentences tighter or words prettier. That is part of it, but it’s a tiny slice of the whole. So… Read more »
Browsing Twitter last week, I saw a tweet from a colleague of mine that read, “I’m curious, for writers who have published books, what was the editing process like? Especially curious about your first book. From whom and at what stage did you receive edits? To what degree? Does this question even make sense? Why… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing William Germano. We’ll be talking about On Revision: The Only Writing That Counts. 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… Read more »
You have just finished your rough draft! Congrats! That is an epic feat, and you deserve to celebrate. There should probably be cake at this celebration. You earned it. Take the moment to relish your magnificent accomplishment, eat some cake, maybe take a few weeks off so you can see your story with new eyes… Read more »
There are over six million Kindle books published on Amazon. Only a small percentage will be bestsellers. As an author, it’s up to you to make your book stand out. Sure, marketing and branding help you sell more books, but the best way to sell books is to write the best one possible. In this… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have Tiffany Reisz on the show! Tiffany is the USA Today bestselling author of the Romance Writers of America’s RITA®-winning Original Sinners series from Harlequin’s Mira Books. She has also received a Lambda Award in Gay Fiction for her novel The King and two Romantic Times… Read more »
Editing is a natural and necessary part of the writing process. But many writers dread revising their work. They’re exhausted from writing the first draft and the thought of changing or deleting words terrifies them. Bestselling books don’t get that way by accident. Rounds of careful revisions are what makes writing shine. Take a page… Read more »
The first time I heard, “there’s nothing about the main character that makes me care about her,” it felt like someone punched me in the throat. Yes, a bit of a dramatic response, but right then and there that’s how I felt. I sat for days afterward wondering what was wrong with me. Had four… Read more »
We often write stories because we have something we want to say to our readers. How we convey those ideas–essentially, our literary themes –can be tricky. For example, let’s say you’ve written a YA novel about a girl who’s determined to take control of her life. You’re proud of this story and passionate about its… Read more »
