Hey word nerd! Jeanette the DIY MFA Curriculum Unicorn (aka Curriculum Director) here. I’ve been a fellow word nerd since early 2018 when I ran across Gabriela’s Stop Dreaming, Start Doing video series. At the end of the videos, I flipped to the next blank page in the journal where I had furiously been scribbling… Read more »
Somehow bad guys and gals are in many ways more challenging to create than our so-called heroes or heroines. This is an area of your writing that invites you to stretch yourself, to play with multiple violations, remembering that you will fall in love with this character, and you will have to manage, at the… Read more »
I have wanted to write for as long as I could remember. … No, that’s not really the truth. I’ve wanted to express myself for as long as I can remember. … No, that’s not it either. I’ve wanted. Now we’re getting somewhere. I want. Yeah, right there. Writing is another form of digging all… Read more »
During this strange state of the world that we’re living in right now, I’ve noticed that my creativity and motivation in some areas has completely and utterly taken a nosedive. At the beginning of the year, I usually came up with story or writing ideas fairly regularly — pulling together a part of a universe… Read more »
Editor’s Note: Columnist, Sara Farmer, is writing a limited series for DIY MFA in which she interviews #ownvoices authors and authors of color. She began her series with an interview of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Mexican Gothic. Check back in two weeks for the next installment! About Marcie Rendon Marcie Rendon, citizen of the White… Read more »
Writing a memoir is not easy. Like any genre, we need a compelling narrative arc driven by good scenes full of sensory details and great dialog. But we also need to create meaning from experience and offer takeaways for our readers. We need to claim our own emotional truth. Negative critics jabber away in our… Read more »
Don’t Do What I Did: Mistakes in Indie Publishing When I started my indie career, I made a lot of mistakes with my email list. I knew I needed a mailing list, but I didn’t know the best way to get addresses legally and ethically or what to do with them once I had them…. Read more »
Since the onset of the 21st century, writing has undoubtedly evolved in a lot of remarkable ways. Now, more than ever, writers from all niches have access to more resources to help them create genuinely outstanding literature. While the scope of available writing tools might have expanded and access to resources increased, the fundamental principles… Read more »
If you remember my previous post, I said everyone has their own Writer’s Intuition. However, it takes conscious effort to become aware of this intuition. As such, I am going to share with you an exercise I did that helped me raise my own awareness. A few years ago, I realized that I needed to… Read more »
You’re excited. You’ve decided to take on a new project. The idea has been stirring in your head for years and you’re finally going to do it. You’re going to write a book— Now what? Writing a book is a huge undertaking. It took ten years and countless revisions to get my own book published…. Read more »
