Just in time for the holiday! Here are some writing lessons from Santa and insights about how the Big Guy in the red suit tackles obstacles and maintains his creative momentum, even during the chaos of the holiday season. Mr. Claus is a wise man. In fact, when it comes to important things like making… Read more »
Some holiday inspiration for your writing and creative life! Sending you all loads of literary love this holiday season! Recently, I had a chance to visit the North Pole and chat it up with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Let me tell you, that is one optimistic little squirt if I ever saw one. And a… Read more »
When I started writing, I had no idea how to get a story on paper. I read book after book and went to classes once a week for a year. No matter how naturally talented you are, there are always tricks that can make you better. Here are five quick writing tips that can keep… Read more »
DIY MFA is launching a podcast! OMG, right? Here at DIY MFA we are so excited to share this with you because it’s been secretly in the works for the last six months at least. Honestly, I don’t know if I could have kept the secret much longer. We’re scheduled to launch our first episode next… Read more »
I’m a journalist by day and a creative writer by night. This double life started in my sophomore year of college, when I enrolled in two classes: Introduction to Fiction and News Writing. Every week, I would spend my mornings and afternoons typing up news articles using the inverted pyramid. Evenings were dedicated to creative writing:… Read more »
A few weeks ago we ran an online workshop called 7 Techniques to Boost Your Writing. We were so thrilled with how it went that we’ve decided to host another one. This workshop is designed to help you boost your writing and get your story back on track. Whether you’re stuck on how to start,… Read more »
Few writers can thrive in isolation. Sooner or later, we all need a little boost in our writing, some external structure to help us make the jump to the next level. And a writing workshop can be a great way to do that. When I use the term “writing workshop” I’m talking about a group… Read more »
With 2012 drawing to a close, we wanted to share a few of our favorite articles from DIY MFA with you. But before we get to that, here’s a recap of how DIY MFA works. While in graduate school, I discovered that the typical Creative Writing MFA boils down to one simple formula. Some graduate… Read more »
There are nine things you should beware of when writing dialogue. I call these the “Nine NO’s” because they’re things that as a general rule writers should try to avoid. Notice, though, that these are not the “Nine Nevers” just Nine NO’s. That means that while you should try to avoid these things, you shouldn’t… Read more »
The one grammar problem I see most frequently when I teach creative writing is with dialogue punctuation. And it’s understandable why this topic leaves many writers mystified. Dialogue punctuation is confusing. Is it a comma or a period before the end-quote? What if you have a question mark or an exclamation point? Here’s a quick… Read more »
