Here’s a powerful technique for immersing readers into your story: use the sense of smell. Of all the senses, smell has the strongest psychological effect. The mere mention of a smell evokes memories and triggers associations in the reader’s subconscious. Mention a smell, and the scene comes to life. Mention two or three, and the reader is… Read more »
#askbecca: I’m committed to my writing, but I’m so exhausted by the time I get home from work and put the kids to bed that there’s no creative energy left. How can I inspire myself, even when I don’t feel like it? I get it. When I worked full time as a copywriter, I was… Read more »
Structure. Constraints. Boundaries. Are you already withering up a little and looking for an escape? The idea of being fenced in by rules and structure can feel stifling, but it shouldn’t. Adding structure can actually be freeing. In one famous experiment, preschool children were observed playing at a playground without a fence around it, and later… Read more »
Creating Youtube videos is one of the most effective ways for a writer to enhance his or her community. First, we’re going to look at what groups make up our writing community, what we give them, what we gain from them, and most importantly, what we should not expect to get from them. Then, we’ll… Read more »
We are SO excited to announce a new, bi-monthly feature on DIY MFA — Ask Becca. Every other Friday, our very own Becca Jordan will be answering your questions about writing, reading and community. Got a question? Tweet @beccaquibbles with the hashtag #askbecca. Or just leave a comment below! You might see it answered right here on… Read more »
For the first article in this series, click here. After attending ThrillerFest, I decided to follow the advice of the pros and take a step back from my book. It was a tough call, and a scary one. I had spent so long with the characters and world, but I knew I needed clear head-space…. Read more »
November is almost here and with it comes pumpkin spice everything, splashy fall colors and a chance to show off the sweaters I knit over the summer. But even better November brings one of my favorite writing events of the year: NaNoWriMo. Full disclosure: I’ve never actually done NaNoWriMo, at least in a way that would qualify… Read more »
We’ve introduced the DIY MFA reading and community resources, but in the end, it all comes down to writing. Sooner or later writers need to get their backsides in the chair and do the work. To that end, we’ve created a go-to list of writing resources here at DIY MFA so that you to help… Read more »
Chuck is the author of the published novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Under the Empyrean Sky, Blue Blazes, Double Dead, Bait Dog, Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse and Gods & Monsters: Unclean Spirits. He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is an alum of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, showed at the… Read more »
Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, an award-winning national journal, where she leads online and digital content strategy. She also teaches digital publishing at the University of Virginia. Before joining VQR, Jane was the publisher of Writer’s Digest and an assistant professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati. You… Read more »
