Through fresh use of the very language we speak every day, poetry creates intrigue, and builds a connection between the author and the reader. But you don’t need to be a poet to use and benefit from poetic tools! Here are 5 tangible suggestions for learning to incorporate poetic tools into your prose. 1) Find… Read more »
Having previously outlined my Thirteen Rules of Successful Critique for those critiquing a piece, it’s only fair to now turn the spotlight on the writer. It takes incredible bravery for an author to bring his or her baby to a group of people for the specific purpose of having it sliced and diced while sitting… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Ann Kidd Taylor to the show! Ann first broke onto the literary scene in 2009 with the New York Times bestselling memoir Traveling with Pomegranates, co-written with her mother, Sue Monk Kidd. She returns this summer with her debut novel, The Shark Club, which… Read more »
Early this year, I read a book called The Kite and the String: How To Write With Spontaneity and Control –and Live to Tell the Tale. It’s a fiction craft book featuring some of the requisite advice you’d expect from a writer with several novels under her belt and loads of short stories in The… Read more »
Web Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Terri Frank to the DIY MFA team! In addition to being a writer, Terri is a professional librarian, and her column, “Your Personal Librarian” will give you tips and tricks to get more reading done, expand your knowledge of genres and authors and, of course, to read with… Read more »
I love writing characters. Creating new people from inside my head is my favorite part of writing stories. Then I’m not encumbered by that pesky thing called reality, and can let my writer brain run wild. My current work in progress has a large cast of characters aside from my protagonist. Each one has a… Read more »
As the leader of two writers groups and having led/attended over a hundred critique sessions, I have a lot of experience on which to draw. While many critique sessions go as intended, I’ve seen some go very, very wrong. More times than not, the miss stems from a single reason: readers going into critique to… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am so excited to have bestselling author of contemporary YA, Sarah Dessen on the show! Sarah has twelve previous novels to her name,several of which have hit the New York Times bestseller list, and discusses with us here her latest teen read Once And For All. Listen in as… Read more »
I can’t think of thriller novels without thinking of New York Times best selling author, David Morrell. Morrell has been an icon in the thriller community since the release of his novel, First Blood, in 1971. His stories are action-packed, gripping, and heart stopping. He often speaks at conferences, but rarely teaches workshops. However, in… Read more »
Web Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Abigail K. Perry to the DIY MFA team! In her column, Let’s Talk Books, she’ll be dissecting passages from great writers, breaking down why what they do works, and how you can apply it to your own writing. Have you ever walked into a park and people watched? How… Read more »
