Hey there Word Nerds! I’m so glad you’re here. Today’s interview will be a juicy one. I’ll be talking to Stephen O’Connor about his debut novel Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, a profound exploration of the ways in which the institution of slavery warped the human soul, as seen through the story of Jefferson and… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds! It’s the week before Christmas, and I wanted to do something a little bit different from the interviews we’ve had these many weeks. This week’s topic is something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while and then I received a question via email from one of our listeners and I decided it was time to… Read more »
Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I’m so excited to be interviewing Beatriz Williams. She is the author of the international bestsellers Overseas, A Hundred Summers, and The Secret Life of Violet Grant. Her new book, Tiny Little Thing, hit bookstores on June 23 and is out now. I’m reading… Read more »
Hello and thank you for joining me today! In this episode we’re going to talk about how to find your voice as a writer. This is an important topic, but one that’s often difficult to discuss because voice can be so elusive. But before I dive in, I want to give a shout-out Leanne and say thanks… Read more »
#askbecca: Most of my writing now is news articles about video games, but I guess I have a hard time consolidating “professionalism” and “goofiness.” How do you let your voice shine through when it might be more appropriate to tone it down? – Cooper S. There’s more than one way to skin a turkey (and… Read more »
Today I am so excited to be hosting literary agent, Mary Kole. Aside from her role as Senior Literary Manager at Movable Type Management, Mary is also the mastermind behind the website KidLit.com where she shares tons of excellent information for writers. While her primary focus is children’s books (affectionately called “KidLit” by those in… Read more »
What makes something a verse novel? Simply speaking, a verse novel (or novel in verse) is exactly what the name implies: a novel that is told in verse rather than prose. It’s a bit more complicated than that, though. Why aren’t works like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid called epic poems and not… Read more »
Whether it’s in an auditorium in front of hundreds of people or in your living room with a couple of close friends, reading your work in public can be nerve-wracking. In fact, even writers who have been speaking in public for years still get nervous when they have to read their own work aloud. I… Read more »
Starting a novel or short story is like making a promise to the reader. You set up rules and expectations that your readers will rely on as they read your piece. You take your readers by the hand and guide them into your story. You develop a trust-relationship with the reader. Delaying or changing these… Read more »
The trouble with voice is that it’s nearly impossible to find an adequate definition. The best I can say about voice is that while I might not be able to define it, I definitely know it when I see it. Before putting together this post, I did a little research on voice by looking… Read more »
