That’s the thing with parents in Young Adult literature—can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Teens are exploring their world for the first time, attempting to establish their own identity separate from their families of origin, so you will find almost all characters going on adventures independent of their parents.

If you are writing a young adult novel, it’s important to consider your characters’ parents on the front end, and develop them into three-dimensional, well rounded, fully fleshed out people to avoid stereotypes and cookie cutter plot devices.

Where it Started, Where We Are

When some of the first young adult novels came out in the 1960s, Julie Just from the New York Times said the parent narrative “fit in neatly with the classic narratives: its strongest stories were about orphans and lost boys of one kind or another.” In these novels, issues weren’t with parents but with other kids. 

But by the 70s and 80s, the narrative started to shift the conflict from friendships to what was happening at home. This is where the problem parent narrative entered the scene, and has never left. It’s not to say all parents should be problematic, because surely there are still supportive parents out there, but you do have to consider the role the parents will play because it’s a significant part of young adults lives…and of course, how to get rid of them so teens characters can go on their adventures.

Approaches to Developing Your Characters’ Parents

Active and supportive parents 

By all means, you can make the parents a positive force in your protagonist’s life. Or even if the protagonist’s parents aren’t the greatest, one of the side characters could have supportive parents. They can serve as mentors, confidants, or sources of guidance for the protagonist. 

This approach emphasizes a positive parent-child relationship and showcases the protagonist’s growth while navigating challenges. 

Here are a few examples of novels who took this approach:

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: The protagonist, Starr, has parents who are actively involved in her life, providing support and guidance as she navigates the aftermath of witnessing a police shooting.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: Although Harry’s parents are deceased so you wouldn’t consider them active, their love and sacrifice play a significant role throughout the series, shaping Harry’s journey and providing emotional support.

Tips for crafting Active and Supportive Parents

• Show moments of emotional connection between the parents and your characters.
• Illustrate how the parents’ guidance and presence positively impact the protagonist’s journey.
• Use the parents’ wisdom or advice to provide insights and lessons for your characters’ growth.

Absent or Neglectful Parents

Absent or neglectful parents create a ton of opportunities for tension and conflict. This can lead the protagonist down the path of having to fend for themselves or seek support from alternative sources, such as friends, mentors, or other family members. It allows for a greater sense of independence and self-discovery as the protagonist overcomes obstacles. 

And the reality for a lot of kids is this is their lived experience, so experiencing a character overcoming this struggle can help them process their own life circumstances. 

Check out these novels for examples of this approach to parents:

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: The main character, Feyre, has a neglectful and unsupportive family. Her journey takes her into the magical Fae realm where she finds a new family and discovers her own strength.
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: The novel tells the story of two misfit teenagers, Eleanor and Park, who bond over music and comics. Eleanor comes from a troubled home with neglectful and abusive parents, which adds to the challenges they face in their relationship.

Tips for crafting Absent or Neglectful Parents

• Explore the protagonist’s emotions and reactions to their parents’ absence, such as feelings of abandonment or independence.
• Emphasize the impact of the absent or neglectful parents on the protagonist’s self-reliance and resilience.
• Showcase the protagonist seeking alternative sources of support and building relationships with other characters.

Overprotective or Controlling Parents 

This is basically the opposite of the parental figure we just explored. There are so many challenges characters can face when dealing with overprotective or controlling parents, and a tremendous amount of conflict can come from this. 

In some novels, this role of the parents actually creates the plot in the novel. Obstacles arise as the main character tries to assert her independence, make her own choices, or pursue her dreams. The positive side, it creates opportunities for the protagonist to develop resilience and assertiveness. 

Here are a couple novels that wrote this kind of parental figure well:

• Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: This is a novel where the main character’s overprotective mom creates the plot for the whole novel. Olly has a rare disease, where she is allergic to basically the whole world, and her mother keeps her protected from it. But when the new boy next door catches Olly’s eye, she begins to push the boundaries of her mother’s rules thus setting the story into motion.
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: The story features a wealthy family known as the Sinclairs, and the main character, Cadence, has overprotective parents who try to control her life. Their actions and secrets play a significant role in the unfolding mystery.

Tips for Crafting Overprotective or Controlling Parents

• Highlight the tension and conflict arising from the overprotective or controlling behavior.
• Explore the internal struggle of the protagonist, torn between their desire for independence and their parents’ restrictions.
• Allow the protagonist to assert their autonomy and challenge their parents’ control throughout the story, creating opportunities for the protagonist to defy their parents’ expectations and find their own path.

Complex Parent-Child Relationships

No one is really all good or all bad, right? Creating nuanced parent-child relationships that blend positive and negative aspects might be the most realistic approach to developing parents in young adult novels. 

Showing the complexities of family dynamics, with parents who have their own flaws, conflicting expectations, or differing values from the protagonist can add depth and realism to the story. 

A couple examples of novels that did this well are:

• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver: The main character, Samantha, experiences a time loop, reliving the last day of her life repeatedly. Her complex relationship with her parents, including their expectations and conflicts, contributes to the overall narrative and Samantha’s self-discovery.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: The characters in this novel come from various backgrounds with complex relationships with their parents or parental figures. Kaz Brekker, for example, has a complicated history with his deceased parents, which shapes his actions and motivations.

Tips for Crafting Complex Parent-Child Relationships

• Unveil the layers of the relationship through meaningful dialogue, flashbacks, or shared experiences.
• Explore the conflicts, misunderstandings, or differing values that shape the complexity of the parent-child dynamic.
• Show instances where the protagonist learns from their parents or reevaluates their relationship as they grow and change.

Parental Absence Due to External Factors 

Sometimes parents might be absent, but it’s not because they don’t care or are neglectful. External circumstances could be forcing the parental absence, such as work commitments, illness, death, or other external factors. 

This can create a sense of longing or loss for the protagonist, leading them to seek understanding or fill the void in their lives. It also offers opportunities for personal growth, resilience, and the formation of unconventional support networks. 

Check out these novels that show this type of parental relationship:

• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: In this West African-inspired fantasy, Zélie’s mother is absent due to being killed in a brutal raid. Her absence fuels Zélie’s desire for justice and sets her on a quest to restore magic to her world.
• The Clock Strikes by Dominique Richardson and Sorboni Banerjee: This is the fourth novel in my Everbeach series, and Elle’s father is absent but not because he doesn’t want to be there, but because he’s a truck driver and his work takes him on the road. This leaves Elle at the mercy of her soon-to-be-step mother Juniper, and she seeks guidance and comfort with her godmother, Titania. 

Tips for Crafting Parental Absence Due to External Factors

• Establish the reasons behind the parental absence, such as work, illness, or other circumstances.
• Depict the protagonist’s emotional response to the absence, capturing their longing, grief, or resilience.
• Introduce surrogate parental figures or unconventional support networks to fill the void left by the absent parents.

Whether the parents in your young adult novel will have a positive or negative impact (or even a mix of both) is yours to determine. Hopefully these ideas, examples, and tips will help you craft well-rounded, three dimensional parents for your young adult novel.

Dominique Richardson is the coauthor of The Everbeach Series—a young adult, romantic suspense series full of forbidden romance, deadly twists, and scandalous secrets that will keep you turning pages into the night. The fourth and final book in the series comes out June 6th. Check out the first book, Red as Blood, if you’re looking for your next bingeable read. Passionate about all things books and giving back to the community, she is also the Executive Director and cofounder of YA by the Bay, a nonprofit young adult reading and leadership festival, dedicated to inspiring teens to “be the author of your own life.” Raised between Jamaica and the United States, her biracial heritage finds a home in her books. She spends her free time passing on her love of unicorns to her twin boys, running in the Florida heat, and drinking all the coffee. She now lives in Tampa, Florida with her family.

She would love to connect with you! Find her online on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. If you’d like to stay in the know about her upcoming book releases, sign-up for her email list. To learn more about the YA by the Bay Young Adult Book Festival, check out the website.

The post Crafting the Parents in Your YA Novel appeared first on DIY MFA.

What follows is a reconnaissance report on these enemies. Read with caution, write with bravery, and arm yourself with these little-known defenses against the 6 Creativity Killers.

Killer #1: Self-Criticism

Defense: Conquer your inner critic

What does your inner critic tell you? What sick nothings does it whisper in your ear? Listen to the voice and write down what it says, then look at what you’ve written down and translate the language.

Let’s look at an example.

Your inner critic might say: “You’re no good. You’re kidding yourself. You’re an imposter.”

Translated, the self-critic’s words become “When I reread that passage and realized it’s not as exciting as I remembered it being, I felt scared, because I need to be completely confident in this novel before self-publishing. Can we try to make that passage better?”

Broken down into these terms, your inner critic shrinks from an imposing bully to a frightened worrywart. Now you can have empathy for it, and you can have empathy for yourself.

Killer #2: Busyness

Defense: Write in small chunks

You might be too busy to write for hours at a stretch, but don’t let Busyness win. Condense your writing time into micro sprints.

First, separate your thinking time from your writing time (if you have only 10 minutes to write, you can’t afford to spend the first 5 brainstorming). Plan your next writing session at times in the day when you can’t write but can think (re: toilet time, shower time, driving time).

After you have a writing road map, make writing your default “dead time” activity. Dead time comes in batches of 5-10 minutes when you’re in the pickup line at little Timmy’s preschool, or during a group call at work when you won’t be required to talk. 

Most people think 5-10 minutes isn’t enough time to start a task, so they scroll social media or listen to the radio or stare off into the distance. But that’s a trap. 

Keep your WIP on Google Drive so you can write from your phone if necessary, and use these 5-10 minute chunks of dead time to crank out some words.

Killer #3: Stress

Defense: Become antifragile

Meditation, gratitude journals, workouts, and dozens of other activities can relieve you of stress. But sometimes nothing you do works. Then, it’s time to be antifragile.

There was a chess prodigy named Josh Waitzkin who used to get songs stuck in his head while he played. He would divert his concentration from the chess match to getting rid of the melody, but sometimes it just wouldn’t leave.

What was his solution?

He stopped trying to get rid of the songs. If the melody stuck in his head was fast, he played more aggressively. If the melody was calm and musing, so was his strategy on the board. Instead of trying to avoid stress, he used it. He wasn’t at risk of being broken by stressors; he grew because of them. He became antifragile.

See the Creativity Killer of Stress not as an enemy, but as an unknowing ally. Use it to your advantage, as fuel and as source material, and your writing will never again suffer at its hand.

Killer #4: Marketing Anxiety

Defense: Insulate yourself from future worry

Imagine this. You learn from what happened yesterday, you set goals that extend several tomorrows forward, but you’re insulated from future worries (including those about selling your book), because you exist completely in today.

Sounds great, right?

But how in the world can we be so grounded in the present?

One method involves exporting your anxiety. Take 20 minutes and write down everything you’re worrying about. Then, for each worry, ask yourself what the worst-case scenario is. 

For example, if your writing goal is to be traditionally published, you may worry about the process of trying to get an agent. What’s the worst-case scenario? Every query you send out will be rejected. 

Accept that possibility, recognize that the consequence, though painful, will not kill you, and brainstorm solutions. Could you work with a query specialist? Could you save up for conventions that would allow you to connect with agents in person? 

Taking small actions—or even making small plans—will loosen the worry’s grip on you.

Killer #5: Fatigue

Defense: Create enjoyable writing sessions

What requires more energy: a 2-mile walk to the gym or a 2-mile walk to the ice cream shop?

It’s easier to summon energy for pleasure than for pain. Consequently, if you craft your writing sessions to be more pleasurable than painful, you’ll find a deeper well of energy for it.

Step one in creating an enjoyable writing session is to “creatify” your writing environment. Put up some plants, some candles. Hang a curtain divider from the ceiling to create yourself a little nook. Find a comfortable chair. Play relaxing rainforest sounds in your headphones. Build yourself a happy place.

After creatifying your writing nest, it’s time to tackle your writing process. To ensure optimal enjoyment of your writing, you can find a writing partner, dress comfier while you write, drink a glass of wine or sparkling water…anything that helps transform your writing from a chore into a treat.

These feel like surface-level improvements, but they’ll combine to fill your writing with pleasure. Your energy will rise as a result, and your fatigue will fall.

Killer #6: Distraction

Defense: Recover your focus as fast as lightning

There are apps and focus techniques that can help you avoid distractions. But sometimes those things don’t work. The challenge becomes this: how do you resume your writing after the unavoidable interruption?

The answer is to ring the bell.

You’ve heard about that guy Pavlov and his dogs, right? He rang a bell every day before feeding time and the dogs salivated in anticipation. Eventually, he could ring the bell without feeding the dogs at all and they would still salivate.

What’s the bell for your writing?

What will instantly put you into a creative mindset or return you to a creative mindset after an interruption? Is it a particular chair? A candle scent? A type of music?

If you can find your bell—or if you can create a bell—you can turn your writer-mind on and off like a switch.

One more secret about Creativity Killers…

These defenses will protect you from the Creativity Killers, but you might find yourself struggling with the same one or two killers. Why? What makes you vulnerable to those killers, and how can you escape their influence?

There are six components of creative wellbeing, and if one of your components is weak, you’ll always be susceptible to the corresponding Creativity Killer.

For years I’ve been building a creativity-supercharging video course, and I’m only just now releasing it. That means you can take the creativity assessment, diagnose your vulnerabilities, and protect yourself from the Creativity Killers for good. And because this course is just hitting the market, you can do it all for free.

To apply for this free, creativity-supercharging video course, click here.

Tell us in the comments: What Creativity Killers do you suffer from? And how will you defeat them?

Mason Engel is the Amazon-bestselling author of 2084, the director of bookish documentaries for public television, and the founder of ClimbWrite.com. ClimbWrite’s video courses are designed for fiction writers who are looking to supercharge their creativity and pen the next bestseller.

You can find him on his website or follow him on Instagram.

The post The 6 Creativity Killers: A Reconnaissance Report on Creativity’s Greatest Enemies appeared first on DIY MFA.

1. Shut off the phone and . . . find the time to write.

You know that little button on the side of your phone? Push it, and a startling message will appear: “Slide to power off.” 

Really, it’s okay. You can turn it off. Not just the ringer, the whole damn thing. It’s exhausted. Let it have a rest. 

It’s now longer a gateway to the rushing, compelling, demanding world outside your writing; it’s now your magic concentration device. 

2. Shut off the internet and . . . find the time to write.

See, at the top of your screen, the little triangle thing that means you’re connected? Click on that, and shut it off. 

Feel the flicker of anxiety when you do this; what if you miss something? What if some further catastrophe is happening in our world and you’re not the first to know? What if your friend Marie has a new hairdo she’s showing off on Facebook? How can you bear to not be connected? 

Instead, you’ll be connected to your writing, your work, your self. 

Wait few seconds, and you’ll feel a wash of relief: You don’t need to know whatever is happening in the world right now. 

What you need to do is get to work, and write.

3. Close the door and . . . find the time to write.

Tell your partner/spouse/mother/child not to interrupt you until you come out. Some people (children, in particular) respond better to this if you give them a time, like “I’ll be out in an hour,” instead of “I’m not coming out until I get some depth to this character.” 

This may help you, too: setting a timer for 40 minutes can alleviate some of the anxiety of writing. You know there’s an end in sight. 

If you don’t have your own room with a door, tell the people around you that when you’re wearing your Yankees ball cap, or when you’re wearing your headphones, or when you’re sitting in a particular chair, that’s your writing time, and you are not to be disturbed. 

4. Don’t even look at your email before sitting down to write.

No, not even a peek. Not even to check and see if there’s something from the publication you submitted to yesterday. 

Take a deep breath. 

If there is something of interest waiting in your email, desperately banging on the bars of the cage so you’ll read it, it’ll still be there in a couple of hours, or 15 minutes, or however long you’re going to give yourself to write.

I know these first four may seem impossible; what helps me is to think of someone in a job where they really cannot be disturbed. Because we’re writers, we’re often at the computer, phone at our side, appearing available. But we’re not. We’re writing. 

You wouldn’t want the surgeon, scalpel in hand, to suddenly need to check the airfares to Mexico, or to answer a call about this weekend’s plans. 

A low-wage worker in a big-box store can’t suddenly decide to do a little job search on their phone, or see if an important email has come in with a coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond. 

You are the surgeon. More to the point, perhaps, you are the low-wage worker. 

5. Once you’re sitting in front of the work, let yourself relax into the bubble you’ve created.

If your mind is still flying all over the place (pandemic, climate collapse, racism…who can blame you for feeling anxious and distracted?), just sit at your desk for a moment. 

Look around you, name five things you can see (clock, plant, other pair of reading glasses), then four things you can feel (the fabric of your shirt, the floor beneath your feet), three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. 

And then, get to work.

Sarah Van Arsdale’s first poetry chapbook, Taken, is forthcoming at the end of this month from Finishing Line Press in October 2021. Click here to order a copy. She is the author of four books of fiction and a single book-length poem, titled The Catamount (Nomadic Press, 2017), illustrated with her watercolors. Her other books are: Toward Amnesia, In Case of Emergency, Break Glass, Grand Isle, and  Blue, winner of the 2002 Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have been published in widely in literary magazines. In addition to teaching in the Antioch/LA low-residency MFA program, she has taught with Art Workshop International in Assisi, Italy, at New York University, and with Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv. More of her drawings, short films, and writing can be seen at sarahvanarsdale.com

The post #5onFri: Five Ways to Resist the Inexorable Forces Pulling You from Your Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.

Through my own struggles with writing a novel, as well as my work with other writers, I’ve seen this firsthand. Cultivating the right mindset about writing a novel is just as critical to success as understanding the craft of it. 

Here are the five things about writing a novel that I wish I’d realized sooner.

1. Let yourself be a beginner at writing a novel.

When you first start writing a novel, you are a beginner, no matter how much writing you have done before. You will struggle with description, you will write flat characters, and you will agonize over making dialogue sound real. 

It’s even more frustrating if you’re an avid reader, and you know what good storytelling and good writing look like. You may think you’ll be able to easily replicate advanced skills in your story. 

What you’re experiencing is a gap between your taste and skills. Ira Glass explains: “All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years, you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.”

Writers give up in the early stages of the first draft because they don’t understand how their writing could be so bad—especially if they’ve been told before that they’re good at writing. But even if you’ve been good at writing other things, you’re a beginner at writing a novel. So try not to compare yourself to your favorite authors or expect that you should be more advanced. Give yourself the grace to be bad and the permission to practice your craft until it improves. 

2. Everyone has to learn how to write a novel.

Our tastes trip us up, but so does a belief in natural talent. There’s a pervasive idea that some writers are just born with it, that a whole and compelling story just flows out of them and onto the page. 

However, despite how easy some novelists make this endeavor look, no one is born knowing how to write a book. Yet, so many first-time novelists sit down with the hope that they are a natural talent, and that writing will be easy and storytelling will come effortlessly. If we don’t get our first draft perfect on the first try, we might believe it’s a sign that we don’t have the gift and we can’t do it. 

In reality, you have to learn. Even if you have plenty of experience writing articles and short stories, you still have to learn to write a novel. 

A novel’s conventions are not like any other piece of writing. A novel is also such a large-scale project that it requires a different approach. Learn about story structure and character development. Try out different planning methods and writing habits. Look at a novel as something you have to learn how to do. 

3. You don’t have to do it on your own.

Along with the genius myth, we also believe that writers do their work alone. And while the act of writing is generally solitary, working on a novel should involve outside input. We get so close to our own work that we can’t evaluate it objectively. Getting outside perspectives on your story will help you see the problems that you can’t identify on your own. And help abounds to get your writing and your story in the best possible shape. DIY MFA, writing groups, critique partners, coaches, editors, workshops, and more are all available to you.

You also don’t have to wait until you already have a draft to get help. Want to skip years of writing in circles, trying to figure out on your own how to raise the stakes of your novel or make your characters more believable? Take a class or work one-on-one with a book coach. 

Asking for help doesn’t mean that you’re not cut out to write; it’s just a more efficient way to learn and hone your craft. 

Getting help will better prepare you for traditional publishing as well given that the industry is more competitive than ever, and agents don’t have as much time as they once did to help promising writers develop their skills. As such, they’re less likely to take on a writer who’s not quite there yet. So before you query, you should take advantage of any opportunity you can to learn new skills, get feedback on your work, and make your draft the best it can be. 

4. Editing will take longer than drafting.

Many beginning writers think that the hard part of the process is completing the first draft; then all the story needs is a polish, and the book is ready to publish. They wind up discouraged when they either finish the draft and find it’s a mess, or they try to query a story that’s just not ready and get continually rejected.

Instead, go into your first draft with the mindset that your novel will be far from done when you type “the end.” In fact, in the case of your first novel, the editing process will likely take the bulk of your time. You can’t see the scope of your novel until you’ve completed a full draft because you discover so much about your story and your characters along the way. And then you can see what’s working and what isn’t. 

Ultimately, your first draft will need a massive story-level edit before line edits. Plan to spend significant time on that step of the process. 

5. Persistence is more important than talent or natural ability. 

Given the debunked myth about natural talent, the thing that separates successful writers from—well, writers who do not publish or do not finish—is persistence. 

It takes time to learn, to practice, to develop your skills, to revisit your story over and over to make it better, to work with others and apply their feedback. But writers who think that talent is all it takes will not realize they need to put in this effort; they will never see their skills improve because they give up when the work gets hard. 

I’ll admit that this happened to me on more than one draft. I felt like my terrible first drafts were a sign that I couldn’t write well, and I’d never get better. I just never got better because I kept quitting. 

So remember, your writing and storytelling skills can be improved, but only if you’re prepared to stick it out through all the tough times. 

With the right mindset, you can learn to look at those challenges as opportunities for growth, rather than warning signs that you’re doing it wrong. 

In fact, if you have the mindset that writing a novel takes continual learning and practice, and you show up to write consistently, you’re doing it right. 

Heather Campbell is a book coach who helps writers develop tools to overcome their perfectionism and mindset blocks so they can create lasting and effective writing habits to complete a novel. When she’s not immersed in fiction, she’s running in the fresh mountain air of Colorado or snuggling with her rescue dog, Chase. Find out more at www.thewriterremedy.com and follow her on Instagram!

The post #5onFri: Five Things I Wish I’d Known about Writing a Novel appeared first on DIY MFA.

How did this happen? Hadn’t I done everything I was supposed to? I had graduated with honors and found comfortable, writing-adjacent jobs that were good enough. I pursued sensible opportunities for advancement. I got married. I took on a mortgage.

So what, if when I wrote, it was in undisciplined fits and starts? Well all right, I had sort of stopped writing altogether, but I had time. I would write when I had saved up enough money. I would write when I retired. Or, who knows, I could win the lottery, finally quit working, and you guessed it, just write all day.

Asking for a Sign

I was unhappy. I asked for a sign. Please, if I’m meant to write, God, send me a sign. Send me something obvious and unmistakable.

I sent up the meager prayer from my car in the middle of Georgia. I reasoned I had worked hard enough at my “real job” that year to deserve a day trip to visit Andalusia Farm, the place where Flannery O’Connor completed some of her most prodigious work during the last thirteen years of her life.

Listen, I don’t mean I’m meant to be famous, only that writing is what I’m supposed to do, I thought as the air conditioning struggled to keep up with the heat. Send me a sign, and I’ll keep going, I pleaded, passing field after field of red clay.

The Myth of Later

Now, it is none of my business which (if any) higher power you believe in. If you are reading this article though, you may be asking yourself some of the same questions. Can I do this? Can I keep going? Should I even try in the first place?

You may also be comforted by the seductive coziness of “later.” Later, I’ll have enough money. Later, when the kids are grown up and out of the house. Later, I’ll make the space and time to put my writing first.

The truth is, however, that you may not have this “later” to which you feel entitled.

Let me be clear. I wish you health and old age. I want a full, wild, happy life for you. May it be free from accident, tragedy, strife, debt, violence, and ill health. May you be blessed with a comfortable retirement at an early age, and more money, time, and energy than you know what to do with.

I can’t guarantee that though. Nobody can. I hope you are spending some of your time now doing the activities that give you a sense of purpose and meaning, the things that make you come alive.

I Write Now

Spoiler: I write now. Though, more of my prose than I like to admit is disconnected and clichéd. My first drafts are rarely readable and never publishable. Fully rounded, relatable characters don’t just drop onto my blank pages, nor sparkling sentences that will jettison me into literary fame. At rather inconvenient times, I type random snippets of dialogue into the Notes app on my phone or scribble in an ugly notebook. But I write.

I write because I want to tell stories about my family, the places that have shaped me, and the people I love. I write because, even on the bad days, I feel like I’m inching closer to the truest version of myself again. And on the good days, when the words seem to land effortlessly in just the right place, it feels like playing with magic.

Start small. 

Use the five minutes it takes for the spin cycle on your washer to end. Start with ten words, then twenty, then thirty. Describe what you see from a different point of view while you wait for your bus. Write your own version of this article. Learn what you can from podcasts, YouTube, and these DIY MFA resources about the craft. You don’t have to blow up your entire life to do it.

Make hard choices.

You do have to make hard choices when it comes to your time. This is especially true if you have a full-time job or commitments that gobble up your schedule and mental energy. Protecting your writing time might mean cancelling plans and travelling less. It might mean waking up an hour earlier. It will probably involve more than one uncomfortable conversation with your partner about the division of household tasks. Your writing must matter to you.

Your children will be okay eating takeout once in a while. The dog will enjoy the extra hour dozing at your feet while you type away, bleary-eyed in the morning. Your friends and family will be excited to see how your writing is uncovering the person they love.

When life gets in the way, and your work slows down or stops, start again. And again. Whatever you do, just don’t give up. Write now. I’m rooting for you.

Not convinced yet? 

Plenty of authors with far more authority and experience than I say the same thing. Borrow their words when you struggle with self-doubt. Keep a record of the beautiful turns of phrase from the writers and poets who move you. 

Copy Charles Bukowski’s poem “Roll the Dice” down on scraps of paper. Memorize it. Then, when you need it most, it is as close and familiar to you as your own heartbeat:

do it, do it, do it.

do it.

all the way

all the way.

My Obvious and Unmistakable Sign

It was just past noon when I arrived at Andalusia Farm. I snapped photos of the descendants of the peafowl that O’Connor raised. I saw her typewriter, positioned just a few paces from her narrow bed, her miniature porcelain figurines, her crutches.

Before leaving, I spent some time on the walking trail on the site. When I stepped out of the tree line at the edge of a large pond and looked up, I was met with a pair of eyes. A doe had stopped to drink directly opposite and lifted her head to look at me. I stood still, taking in her sleek, graceful lines. She held her gaze. There it was, my obvious and unmistakable sign. It knocked the breath from me. I nearly burst into tears with relief. When I returned home, I wrote the first scene of a story I had been toying with for the last year.

My elbows and forearms left clean places in the dust on my desk.

I hope you aren’t wasting time, waiting as I did, for a sign. Just write. Create. Now. Do the thing that your heart knows you were put on this earth to do. Your life will be richer, more than you thought possible, by just trying. I hope you will realize, as I have, that it is worth it.

The elder daughter of Korean-Canadian and Austrian immigrants, F.E. Choe currently lives and writes fiction in Columbia, South Carolina. When she is not at her desk trying to craft true and beautiful sentences or piecing together her latest short story, you will find her feeding the dog scraps under the table, reading, or training her backyard flock of hens to walk backwards. Follow her on Instagram.

The post On Starting Now appeared first on DIY MFA.

• speculative horror
• contemporary fantasy with elements of horror
• contemporary with speculative elements
• dark contemporary fantasy

As you can see, there are a bunch of different boxes we can check to classify our work. If we think of genre like different types of food, what happens to fusion cuisine? How do we write the books we don’t know how to put into tidy boxes? 

Deciphering Intent

In my case, it was a matter of deciphering intent. The Devil Makes Three has always been a scary book, but it hasn’t always been a horror novel. It hasn’t always had speculative elements, either. 

When bending genre, it’s important to consider the effect of the elements you’re introducing: does a magic system positively impact the book? How does it interact with or grate against other elements you’ve introduced? In The Devil Makes Three, there is both a magic system and an unrelated bookish demon. These elements battled against one another for dominance, so it was a matter of figuring out how the two interacted and interlocked to make them both shine. When the book was accepted for publication, it was like I was whispering quietly in a very large room: can we call this horror? Is it scary enough for that? It can be incredibly difficult to define!

Focusing on Character

Recently, I read Sarah Gailey’s The Echo Wife, which is another delightful experience in genre bending. The premise itself has elements of science fiction in that a primary character is a clone. The setting is contemporary, in a world we recognize. And the concept? That’s horror, and there are excellent moments of terror for both the reader and the narrator throughout. Read deeper to find pieces of a thriller, threads of women’s fiction, and everything in between. It’s a book that is hard to define, so it sits at the crossroads.

Gailey brings these genres together by focusing on character. Evelyn, the main character of The Echo Wife, doesn’t care if her story fits into a genre. The events of the story are driven by decisions. Of course, we could say that every book depends on character and what they may or may not want, but in the course of genre bending, the rules are thrown out the window. Stories can be messy and hard to define—so what is the effect of each decision?

When I was writing The Devil Makes Three, I was focused on my characters rather than genre. I knew I wanted elements of horror simply because I’m drawn to dark narratives and I love scary books. I discovered one of the characters functioned best when he had access to magic, even if it didn’t quite make sense with the original horror-esque plot. But staying true to the characters mattered to me, and it didn’t feel like these characters or this narrative fit into a conventional trope-based plot of a specific genre. 

Trends

Genre itself is impacted by trends. Horror is a great specific example of this—it has only been recently that we’ve been calling YA horror books what they are. If a specific genre is seen as unfashionable, it’s sometimes easier to learn how to market a book as something else. 

When examining a narrative, it’s a good idea to make a list of descriptors, as I’ve done above. This will allow you to see the different facets of your work. 

Utilizing comparison titles is especially helpful in this regard. Consider yourself walking through a bookstore, looking at the different categories. Do you think your book would fit into more than one? Make a list of these different categories and explain to yourself exactly why you think your book or concept would fit into them. This will help you identify tropes and find the best fit for your novel.

In summary, when writing a book, try to focus on character and the big picture rather than specific categories or genres. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve written until it’s finished. But you also cannot put a genre on a blank piece of paper. Focus on the work itself, and the way the elements interweave. If it’s working, it’s working, so the labels will come later.

And once you’ve written the book, try to position it in the greater publishing landscape. If you’re querying a book or going on submission, you need to know your market anyway. Read anything you can that feels remotely similar to your own work, and pay attention to how those books are marketed. See how the different elements are brought together: are they cohesive, in your opinion? And if not, what could you do differently in your own work?

Genre itself is an amorphous classification based on preconceived notions that will hopefully point readers in the direction of something they like. A genre is a cue: it tells people what to expect. 

When you’re mixing genre, the unexpected usually comes up! If you’re going to blend different genres together, the best way to hold it together is with a strong character that drives the story. If we can follow your character from contemporary fiction to portal fantasy to sci fi, we can follow them anywhere. 

Tori Bovalino is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lives in London. She holds a BA in English and anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. She is currently a student in Royal Holloway’s Creative writing and practice-based PhD program. Her debut novel, The Devil Makes Three, is forthcoming from Page Street. Tori is represented by Dr. Uwe Stender and Amelia Appel at TriadaUS Literary Agency. You can follow her on Twitter. 

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What’s holding you back? Are you struggling to find motivation to continue your story, or maybe you feel like the well of inspiration is running a little dry? Whether you are trying to start that draft or finish it, all of us could use a middle of the year boost as we try to rededicate ourselves to our projects and find something to revitalize us and give us a little pick-me-up.

So, I’ve put together a roundup of some of our DIY MFA articles to help inspire and fuel your writing juice.

What Happens When You Decide the Answer is “Yes”?

Is that middle of the year discouragement getting you down? Or maybe you’re struggling to quiet your inner editor so you can push forward on your draft. Whatever the case, our Curriculum Unicorn Jeanette has you covered. In her article, Jeanette talks about how embracing the “yes” in our writing journey can help us break past writing barriers. 

Episode 69: Motivation for Writers – Interview with Mark McGuinness

If you, like me, are struggling to find your motivation to write in this season of the year, I have just the podcast for you. In this episode of DIY MFA Radio, Mark McGuinness and Gabriela discuss the myths and misconceptions that creative people have about motivation and how we can capture inspiration when it hits.

Boost Your Creativity

Need some quick tips on how you can boost your creativity? Jenn Walton’s article has you covered. She gives three simple ways you can shake up your creative process and solidify your writing routine.

Get Creative on Demand

Learning to be creative on demand is a skill every writer needs, especially when they are facing blocks in your writing. In this throwback article, Gabriela shares Lisa Gardner’s three important steps for getting creative on demand.

#5onFri: Five Ways to Find Inspiration for Writing Your Book

Maybe you’ve reached this halfway mark in the year and you’re struggling to find inspiration to continue writing your book. You’re missing that oh so important muse for your story. Maybe you had it and lost it, or perhaps you haven’t yet found it but are itching to write something. Jessica Fender offers five ways to find inspiration for writing your book, so go check them out and see what sparks you!

Tips and Techniques for Training Your Writing Brain

As poet Brenda Joyce Patterson so eloquently put it in her article, “Writing is fraught.” There is a lot for us to fear and worry about as we struggle to put words in a draft. How do we shut these fears down so we can keep writing? We train our brains. Check out Brenda’s tips for how to get yourself writing again.

Why Writers Should Be On Pinterest

How can social media sites like Pinterest help you rededicate yourself to your writing projects? Sites like Pinterest offer a visual element for boosting your creative self that writing alone sometimes can’t, so check out these fun ideas on why Pinterest can help revitalize your writing and try a few out!

#5OnFri: Five Tips for Creating a Writing Office in Any Room

Maybe you’re struggling to feel inspired to write in your home. With the pandemic and a growing trend of working at home, sometimes what you need is to shake your space up and make it feel fresh. Check out these ideas for how to do that with Bess McAllister.

Writing Workshop: How To Tell When You Need That Boost

Joining a writing workshop or class is a good way to give you that boost of creativity or motivation you might be lacking right now. But before you jump in or sign up for one, find out if it’s the kind of boost you need. 

Six Ways to Write Through the Lazy Summer Days

Summer isn’t over yet, there are still a few glorious weeks left before the crisp Autumn air sets in and the vibes shift. So here are some ideas of how you can enjoy these last few weeks and finish the summer strong.

Alright word nerds, now that your creative juices are flowing and your motivation has been renewed, it’s time to get back out there and write. We’ve still got half a year to make our writing dreams realities! I’d love to hear what helps revitalize you and motivates you to write! Feel free to share in the comments below or on our social media posts!

Olivia Fisher is a writer and editor who loves to read and write middle grade fiction. When she isn’t imagining living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, writing her next epic adventure, or fighting off the ghosts of the Bermuda Triangle while hauling up the untold treasures and hidden histories of the civilizations deep within its secretive waters. While only some of that is true, she does love animals, babies, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow along with her adventures on Twitter or hire her for your next writing escapade on Fiverr. 

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The goal of copyediting is to escort the blunders out the door so your words can shine through. Whether you hire a professional for your work or not (learn more about the editorial process here), I recommend getting the manuscript into the best shape that you can. If it’s a book manuscript, your beta readers will thank you, and if it’s a news article that will appear in a local newspaper or online blog or zine, you may be responsible for the copyediting anyway.   

I’ve been a freelance editor for decades, and I teach three copyediting courses for Writer’s Digest University, so I know well the mistakes writers most often make. Here are five common copyediting issues to look for and eradicate on your own.

1. Commas and Independent Clauses

Use a comma to join two independent clauses (those that can stand on their own as a full sentence) that connect with a conjunction.

Example: The bird flew up to the feeder, and the cat let out a cry.

“The bird flew up to the feeder” is one independent clause. “The cat let out a cry” is another independent clause. The two are connected with the conjunction “and.” The conjunction is paired with a comma.

Seems straightforward enough, but it’s very easy to forget this comma.

Do not, on the other hand, use a comma to separate a compound predicate. This occurs when one subject is shared by two clauses. Do not use a comma to cut the subject from the second verb.

Incorrect: Lainey went to the store, and bought a bag of oranges.

Correct: Lainey went to the store and bought a bag of oranges.

2. The Semicolon

Many writers fear the semicolon, but it has its uses. For one, you might want to connect two sentences that are very closely related, but you don’t want to use a conjunction to do so. One statement flows into the next, enhancing or expounding on it.

Correct:  I am traveling to China; I’ve always wanted to go there.

Correct: Ginger swam to the other side of the lake; it really was the only option.

You will also use semicolons when dividing items in a complex list in which one of the items is a sub-list.

Correct: Her favorite color combinations were black and white; pink and green; and red, white, and blue.

3. Quotation Punctuation and Dialogue Tags

Many are baffled by the quotes, commas, and dialogue tags that are used to indicate spoken words. The dialogue tag may start the sentence, fall in the middle, or end the sentence. A sentence leading into the spoken words can act like a dialogue tag, but it will not be punctuated like one.

Example 1: He said, “You’re going to regret this.”

In this example, you have the dialogue tag at the start, a comma following the tag, and the quotation marks before and at the end of the spoken words.

Example 2: “You’re going to regret this,” he said. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Here we start with the quotation mark and spoken words followed by a dialogue tag. Note the comma at the end of the spoken words and the period following the tag, putting an end to the sentence. The speaker continues, however, with another sentence, so you start this second sentence with a new quotation mark and a capitalized word. It ends with a period inside the closing quote because there is no tag to follow. The tag in the middle works for both sentences.

Example 3: “You’re going to regret this,” he said, “and don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Here the sentence continues after the dialogue tag, so a comma is used after the tag and a new quotation mark starts the rest of the sentence, but a lowercase letter is used to start the second phrase because it is a continuation of the same sentence.

Example 4: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said.

When the dialogue tag follows, you’ll use a comma at the end of the spoken sentence followed by the closing quote and the dialogue tag.

Example 5: James grabbed a handful of the candies by the cash register and unwrapped one. “I’m known for having a sweet tooth.”

Here the sentence that comes before the quotation indicates who is speaking. It is not treated as a dialogue tag. It’s a sentence in its own right.

4. Colon Use

I would venture to say that a majority of writers do not know how to properly use colons. Improper use appears in print constantly, so it’s certainly not their fault. Here is the No. 1 rule to remember when using a colon: a full sentence must come before the colon. (I have used the colon correctly in the sentence before this one.)

Incorrect: The paper listed ways to earn a living including: starting a business, working for someone else, getting a temporary job. (Remove the colon and add a comma after “living.”)

Incorrect: The instructions are: cut the paper, glue the paper, and color the paper. (Remove the colon and the sentence works.)

Acceptable: Pros: attractive and affordable. Cons: far from work, no animals allowed. (A single word used to introduce a list.)

Correct: The question was obvious: How would we get out of here? (Use a colon to introduce a question or quote.)

5. Dashes

Dashes work in pairs, but don’t send a dash to do the work of a comma. Save the dashes for the “special” instances when you want to set off an emphasizing statement or one that further explains. I like to think of it as going off on a quick tangent. Please note: be sure that the words before the first dash and after the second form a complete sentence.

Tangent: She worked long hours at her desk—in spite of sitting being the new smoking—each and every day.

Emphasis: He would not listen—no matter how hard she tried to explain—to any advice she gave.

Non-Essential Clause: He put the Beatles album on, a favorite of his, and sat back in the easy chair. (“A favorite of his” is the nonessential clause, and you will not use a pair of dashes here.)

Search for these scenarios in your own work, and get in the habit of using this punctuation correctly. If you can handle the above punctuation well, your manuscript will be that much closer to reaching the goal of a smooth and enjoyable read.

Kim Catanzarite has been a freelance writer and editor for almost three decades, and she teaches copyediting for Writer’s Digest University. Her debut sci-fi thriller, They Will Be Coming for Us, published June 1, 2021. You can subscribe to her self-publishing blog at AuthorKimCatanzarite.com/blog, or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.   

The post #5onFri: Five Copyediting Mistakes You’re Probably Making (and How to Eradicate Them) appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sight

Sight is the sense that we lean on most heavily in life and in fiction. Historical fiction writers need to be able to visualise the finer details of their setting in order to transport readers to a convincing version of the past. 

Online image searches can bring up a host of photographs from the not-so-distant past, but what if you’re writing about a period before the advent of photography? Archives and museums can be excellent resources, containing everything from fashion plates to paintings and maps to textiles. Studying objects (or photographs of objects, such as those available through the V&A’s online collection) from your chosen period can be an excellent way of bringing visual details to life.

Another tip is to visit the location you’re writing about and notice any glimpses of the past that are still visible today, such as geographical features or old buildings. Visualise how the landscape might have looked before the modern world was allowed to creep in. 

If you can’t get there in person, why not embark on a virtual tour using Google Streetview? Youtube, too, can be an excellent source of visual inspiration—a quick search of “historical tour of [location]” or “getting dressed in [time period]” can yield useful results.

Sound

Incorporating sounds into your historical fiction can be a powerful way of building atmosphere. Many online archives offer sound recordings from bygone times, be it music, spoken word, or environmental soundscapes. 

For fiction that takes place before audio recording was possible, you can use primary sources such as diaries to guide you, drawing upon the descriptions given by people who experienced the era first-hand. 

Secondary sources can also provide great jumping-off points for your own imagination. Listening to music that evokes your era can be a wonderful source of inspiration too.

Tip: If you’re daunted by the thought of historical research, take a look at The History Quill’s list of 10 essential research tips or 50+ online research resources for historical fiction writers.

Touch

Touching museum exhibits is rarely an option, so once again, primary sources such as diaries can be useful to draw upon here for evidence of tactile sensations. That being said, there are still some opportunities to get to grips with historical locations and objects first-hand, such as by visiting historic buildings or scouring antiques shops for items that would’ve been at home in your period. 

And remember, this sense isn’t just about what your character would’ve felt with their hands; what about the feel of their clothing against their skin? What is the weather like, and how does this physically affect your character? How, in turn, does that emotionally affect your character? 

Don’t be vague: it’s the specific details that will resonate with your reader, and a carefully chosen metaphor can be useful here.

Smell

The smells of a historical setting can be difficult to pin down, and this is where your imagination might need to work harder. Smells can be particularly evocative, though, so it’s worth putting in the work. 

Again, primary sources can be useful here. Someone who is visiting a location for the first time is more likely to notice the distinctive scents of a place than someone who has lived there all their life, so historical travel diaries can be a useful source.

In Europe, a project called Odeuropa is underway to catalogue and recreate aromas from the past, so that in time we might even be able to smell, for example, the Battle of Waterloo! The odour wheel on the Odeuropa website alone makes for a wonderful writing prompt. 

But until we can easily access reconstructed smells, what other options do we have? Again, it’s possible to visit historic buildings or, if your setting is a rural one, spend time in nature. Close your eyes, cover your ears, and allow your sense of smell to come to the fore. 

There’s little point in describing easy-to-identify smells that your reader will already be familiar with; take time to dig deeper, to identify striking or unusual details, and practice describing that sensory data as specifically as you can, for example through metaphors or similes.

Taste

Saving the best for last, taste is where you can really have some fun. The internet is a treasure trove of recipes from bygone eras, so if you can source the right ingredients (or a close alternative), why not have a go at recreating a meal from your chosen period? 

Notice not just the flavours but also the accompanying textures and aromas. You could even enlist family and friends to help with this and have them describe what they taste. After all, tastes do vary, so this way you can benefit from multiple perspectives, which could highlight interesting details that you didn’t notice or experience for yourself.

Sharpening your sensory awareness

If you’re prone to neglecting a sense or two in your writing, try paying more attention to that sense in your everyday life. And yes, even writers of historical fiction can benefit from this tip. By improving your sensory awareness, you’ll be better equipped to describe sensory details in a specific, striking way.

Whichever senses you choose to use in your historical fiction, it’s important to do so seamlessly and with a light touch. Which sensory details might your viewpoint character notice and why? Our emotions can greatly affect our sensory experiences; delicious food can feel virtually tasteless when we’re feeling anxious, and a beautifully scented rose might evoke pleasure in one person but haunting memories in another. In this way, the senses can be a powerful way of not only bringing a setting to life but deepening characterisation too.

Rachel Smith is a writing tutor and content editor based in the UK. She is the executive editor of The History Quill, which was founded with the aim of providing dedicated support to historical fiction writers at every stage of the writing process. For more tips on accuracy and authenticity in historical fiction, take a look at The History Quill’s dedicated guide. 

The post How to Use Sensory Details in Historical Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

I challenged you in April to embark on a 2021 Virtual Writers Sabbatical, which is a build your own adventure focused on you and your writing craft. If you’ve already joined, I’m glad to have you along for the tour. If not, it’s never too late to break out of your bubble. Check out Create Your Own Virtual Writers Sabbatical, which includes a Sabbatical roadmap.

Here’s a recap of my Sabbatical destinations: 

1. completing a book coaching class; 
2. improving my Show, Don’t Tell skills; 
3. doubling down on my writing community and critique group involvement; 
4. reading multiple books on creativity, story building, coaching, and editing, and rebooting my fiction reading; and 
5. binge watching TV shows and movies set in Ireland and the U.K. as research for my story. 

Initially I thought my selections were unrelated, but I’ve learned my picks have common threads.

Lessons From Buzz Lightyear and His Friends

Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace was my first read under #4. Catmull, a Co-Founder and President of PIXAR Animation, shares many of his career’s mistakes and wins while working for George Lucas and Steve Jobs and at PIXAR and Disney Animation. Whether you grew up watching Star Wars or PIXAR favorites, such as Toy Story and Cars, you will find Catmull’s recounting of what went on behind the scenes entertaining.

Catmull provides a fresh perspective on creativity and effective ways to nurture it while building a stronger business organization. However, his ideas are easily applied to writers. I’ve already tested a few of his lessons.

1. Share Your Work Early and Often

Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way. And that’s as it should be.

Creativity, Inc., page 318

While working on my first novel, every point in the process has been a learning curve for me… until it’s not. One hurdle I had to tackle was sharing my work with others. I knew intuitively that I needed to have others’ eyes on my work in order to strengthen my writing, but trusting others with my story, not to mention my heart and dreams, was a scary thing. I knew that as an introvert and perfectionist just getting comfortable with sharing my early drafts (i.e., the “just get it on the page and expect it to be messy” drafts) was going to be a feat in itself. So, at the end of last summer, I enrolled in DIY MFA’s small group coaching program.

You may be surprised that my primary reason wasn’t to push me closer to finishing the first draft of my novel, which it definitely helped me do. Rather, I did it to force myself to become more comfortable with sharing my work. First, I would gain an instant critique group without having to search and test one out. Second, I would receive critiques while I was early enough in my draft for it to make a meaningful difference. Finally, receiving more feedback faster would help me quickly develop the thick skin I knew I needed to query agents.

It turned out I was shortsighted about how powerful and effective critiques can be when done well with the right partners. I loved every minute of the program, and I realized afterwards that I’d set the bar too low by only hoping to learn how to bounce back faster from receiving constructive feedback. Instead, I should have been focusing on the power of tapping into a brain trust.

2. Writing Can Be a Team Sport

Candor isn’t cruel. It does not destroy. On the contrary, any successful feedback system is built on empathy, on the idea that we are all in this together, that we understand your pain because we’ve experienced it ourselves…The Braintrust is fueled by the idea that every note we give is in the service of a common goal: supporting and helping each other as we try to make better movies.

Creativity, Inc., page 104

Novel writing is a solo sport. I knew when I started that I would spend most of the time in my head talking to my characters, and I was okay with this. But over time I realized just how solitary that experience can be, and I was craving good old-fashioned people connections.

Our coaching program ran for an intense three months. A year later, most of our cohort is still actively supporting each other’s writing, including creating spin-off critique groups, which inspired #3. Already, my days of fear and dread at sharing my work are gone. Instead, I’m excited about each step of the critique group process—submitting, reviewing, and exchanging feedback. Each step is another opportunity to grow.

The members of my spin-off group write in multiple genres and have different writing styles, strengths, weaknesses, and blind-spots. I receive real-time feedback on my story, characters, and my practicing #2. I pick up new techniques and styles to test. I watch up close how other writers create. Each call leaves me re-energized to work on my story. I knew we would learn from each other. But I didn’t realize that this new writing community was my own missing link.

3. Collaboration is Key

Every creative person…can draft into service those around them who exhibit the right mixture of intelligence, insight, and grace.…Andrew Stanton says…‘The people you choose must (a) make you think smarter and (b) put lots of solutions on the table in a short amount of time.’…Seek out people who are willing to level with you, and when you find them, hold them close.

Creativity, Inc., page 105

My group has only been up and running for half a year, but there’s already been a subtle shift in our discussions. It can be hard to process constructive feedback no matter how gently and respectfully it’s provided, but I’ve noticed a trust in each other has already formed. And we’ve switched from straight feedback to brainstorming solutions together to help each writer accumulate as many ideas and perspectives as possible. It’s always up to each writer to decide what does and doesn’t work for their story. But I love the idea of writers helping writers, especially when we’ve been hanging out in our heads with our characters for a little too long. 

This collaboration between writers is something I hear too little about, but I’m so grateful to have it in my writer’s toolkit. It’s also made me realize I’m interested in #1 because a book coach collaborates with writers to help them write the best book they can. But more on that in a future post.

Share Your Adventures

So that’s how a book about animated characters taught me that the most important thing I’d overlooked as a newer writer was my ultimate success will depend not only on my own creativity and writing skills, but also on the support of the other writers and coaches I have in my corner.

Have you added someone to your corner lately?

What did you think about Creativity, Inc.?

Let us know in the comments or on social media!

Richelle Lyn is a compensation & benefits attorney and HR executive, who is now chasing a career as a writer. Her favorite reads are suspense, mystery, and contemporary women’s fiction. She is writing her first YA suspense novel. She loves her tea hot and her coffee iced. She calls South Florida home, but her favorite place to be is on a trip. You can check her out on Twitter and Instagram.

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