Hey Word Nerds! Welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio. Back in June, I went on my first mini writing retreat right here in my hometown of New York City. I didn’t go far from home–just a couple of miles–but I left the house, went to a hotel and spent about 24 hours immersed in my writing…. Read more »
OMG, I have been holding onto this secret for weeks now and I’m so unbelievably excited to share the news. Drumroll please… DIY MFA is hosting its first ever online writing conference! I have been a combination of nervous and excited about this announcement and I haven’t been able to keep my head on straight for the past few… Read more »
Hey Word Nerds! Thanks so much for being here with me today. In this episode we’re going to talk about something that’s near and dear to my heart and is a bit of DIY MFA’s core philosophy. It’s called honoring your reality. I usually only share this technique with my DIY MFA 101 course, but in light… Read more »
In the last four months, I’ve gone from a writing obsessed hobbyist to a querying hobbyist to an agented writer to a writer with a book on submission. Seeing my endless hours of toiling bear fruit is exiting and wonderful. But it’s also terrifying. Giving up control of my book has been hard. I never… Read more »
Hey word nerd! Today’s episode is all about how to take your writing from a hobby to something more. This episode was inspired by an email I received from a fellow word nerd named Emily. She wrote: “I want to be a writer when I grow up, and I’ve been told that I’m even good… Read more »
Welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I’m doing things a little bit differently. Instead of an interview, I’m bringing one of my team members on the show as a co-host and we’ll have a conversation about books, writing and the creative life. This episode is part of a new series I’ll be doing… Read more »
Hello and thank you for joining me today! Today’s episode is all about the seven essentials for a writer’s education. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while, and after I wrote this article a few weeks ago about my philosophy of teaching writing, I thought it was time to share these seven essentials… Read more »
April is poetry month and today I read So, You Want to Be a Writer? by Charles Bukowski. This might just be my favorite poem of all time about writing. Except maybe for this one and this other one. (But I digress.) Anyway hop on over and read the Bukowski poem right now. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Great, you’re back. Why did… Read more »
When I moved to New York, my first bedroom was, quite literally, the closet under the stairs. I had just come from a small town in Michigan, where we didn’t have a Starbucks, but we did have big bedrooms. The idea of fitting a writing space into my poor excuse for one seemed laughable. But… Read more »
Every story needs a solid, vivid world that readers can lose themselves in for hours and remember long after they’ve reached The End. Whether that world is another planet, a land of mythical creatures, ancient Egypt, or a modern-day university doesn’t matter. If it feels real to the reader, then the writer has succeeded with… Read more »
