DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community

By Gabriela Pereira and Jacquelyn Mitchard

Get the Knowledge Without the College!

You are a writer. You dream of sharing your words with the world, and you're willing to put in the hard work to achieve success. You may have even considered earning your MFA, but for whatever reason--tuition costs, the time commitment, or other responsibilities--you've never been able to do it. Or maybe you've been looking for a self-guided approach so you don't have to go back to school.

This book is for you.

DIY MFA is the do-it-yourself alternative to a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. By combining the three main components of a traditional MFA--writing, reading, and community--it teaches you how to craft compelling stories, engage your readers, and publish your work.

Inside you'll learn how to:

   • Set customized goals for writing and learning.
   • Generate ideas on demand.
   • Outline your book from beginning to end.
   • Breathe life into your characters.
   • Master point of view, voice, dialogue, and more.
   • Read with a "writer's eye" to emulate the techniques of others.
   • Network like a pro, get the most out of writing workshops, and submit your work successfully.
Writing belongs to everyone--not only those who earn a degree. With DIY MFA, you can take charge of your writing, produce high-quality work, get published, and build a writing career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jul 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781599639369

Reviews for DIY MFA

[jonimfisher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Do It Yourself Master of Fine Arts in writing book delivers tactics, techniques, and strategies for studying and developing a writing career. The book is divided into sections: orientation, write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community.

This is a practical guide for fiction and non-fiction authors who are serious about getting their best work published.

[rosetyper9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the writing book I've always wanted but never knew I needed. It goes into fantastic detail on how to make your own writing process better. I loved each section: writing, reading, and community. I will be referring back to this book often and will re-read it over and over.

[spinsterrevival · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a wonderful overview for a budding writer without dealing with others in a program. The author has also created great resources outside of the book as well and has an informative website and podcast.

[dmturner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked DIYMFA up at the 2016 Writer's Digest Conference in New York, and got to hear the author talk as well. She is sincere, hard-working, and very supportive, and she has nurtured a strong community.

The book is a very readable, thorough, comprehensive (at times intimidatingly) reference for writers, full of common sense, good rules-of-thumb, and useful acronyms. I worked my way through it taking notes and am now reviewing my notes. I would say it is most useful for novelists (literary types and/or genre writers). It's not elegantly written, unlike a number of others I've read, but then the goal was not to impress readers but to provide help. Like any good writing book, it's as useful as you make it. It would be a good acquisition for any writer who is prepared to spend some time with it.