How This Writer Gets His Groove Back

There’s a secret that most published, self-published and otherwise noteworthy writers know. If all first-time authors knew this secret, the collective blood pressure of the writing industry would go down by about 20 percent. Here it is. Even the best writers in the world still get off track. From time to time, legitimate, professional writers… Read more »

Writer Igniter: The Story Behind the Web App

The Writer Igniter is a writing prompt generator with literally millions of possible story prompts. It currently exists as a web app right here at DIY MFA, but it hasn’t always been this high-tech. Read on to learn about the process behind how the DIY MFA Team and I developed this new feature. It all… Read more »

Prompt: Make A Writer’s Block Survival Kit

  Sometimes writer’s block is inevitable.  Suddenly–without even knowing how–you hit the wall and there’s nothing to do but try to break your way through it.  So what do in that situation?  Do you just sit and wallow in your inability to write? The secret to getting through writer’s block is write your way through… Read more »

5 Stages of Writer’s Block

Writers hurt when they can’t write. They may not realize it, but their behavior speaks volumes. Often, writers will go through a series of stages before they are ready to write again and these stages are similar to the Kübler-Ross stages of grief in psychology. In other words, when writers can’t write they grieve, so… Read more »

What To Do When You Have Writer’s Block

Every so often, writers hit a road block.  Sometimes we’re zipping along that writing highway and suddenly we take a detour and we’re off on a side road and boom!  We run into a herd of cattle hanging out in the middle of our path.  Sure, we could off-road it and drive through the pastures… Read more »

Creative Monsters

Today’s Halloween, the day we celebrate all things that go bump in the night.  But while Halloween boogies might be imaginary, I’d like to talk about some monsters that are very real: creative monsters.  What are creative monsters, you ask?  Creative monsters are those people in get in the way of our creative journey.  Often… Read more »