Hello and thank you for joining us today! I’m so glad you’re here. Today, I wanted to give a shout-out to Tobias, who wrote in with a question that inspired today’s episode, Get Motivated and Get Writing. In fact, this got me thinking that If you have questions you’d like to hear answered on DIY… Read more »
Happy New Year! As you can see from this week’s podcast, we’re big on resolutions here at DIY MFA. They can be a powerful tool for motivation, and also for building your community. Studies have shown that the mere act of writing down a goal makes you more likely to achieve it. Telling it to… Read more »
We’ve had an incredible year here at DIY MFA, with a lot on the horizon for 2015. We’ve expanded our team to include five new columnists and a podcast producer. We introduced DIY MFA radio and saw it jump to the top of the iTunes Arts section. We hosted a writing challenge and virtual writing retreat with… Read more »
Last week’s challenge was to write a 100 word story to share how you got your name. Here’s mine: They weren’t big on surprises, my parents. They wanted to know right away. The suspense wasn’t fun, or sexy, or something they wanted to prolong. “Girl.” Repeated again and again, to family members, friends, and complete… Read more »
Here’s a little word association exercise: What pops into your head when you here the phrase “Target Market”? If you’re like I used to be, you instantly get some kind of negative image. Mine was a sleazy movie exec fanning himself with money and pouring over a copy of the latest census report. What is… Read more »
Giving examples of themes in literature isn’t too difficult. Love, good versus evil, loss of innocence – and the list goes on. However, what about defining the term “theme”? Or, picking out themes in your own work? That can be more of a challenge, but it’s one you don’t have to confront alone. Today I’m… Read more »
It’s November and for thousands of writers across the globe, that means one thing: National Novel Writing Month. Also known as NaNoWriMo, the month of November sends novelists into a frenzy of story crafting, their aim a 50,000 word draft in 30 days. Fingers fly across keyboards, and characters magically come to life on the… Read more »
My name is Alicia Audrey, and I am addicted to flash fiction. It is my hope that, if you are not already a flash fiction addict, you will join the club. I’ve always loved writing, and I spent a lot of time focusing on novel-length work. By the end of my second decade of writing,… Read more »
“I try to write every single day, but some days life gets in the way and I can’t do it. Then I feel really guilty. How do I find time to write every single day and how can I stop feeling guilty when I’m not writing?” – Guilty in Galveston Yeah, so. There’s this thing… Read more »
When I first launched my writing career, the task of writing a novel seemed daunting. The blank page stared accusingly at me, like I’d failed before I even started. I knew the basic story I wanted to write, but beyond that everything was a haze of mis-matched sentences and bizarre people lurking in shadows. Then… Read more »
