Part of Gabriela Pereira’s DIY MFA mindset that I wrote about here is to read with purpose. Because you are taking your education into your own hands, you must pick which books to read. Reading is so important to writing. Through reading you can discover what works and doesn’t work in stories, you can pick … Continue reading It’s Okay to DNF a Book
Writing Tips
5 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Writing
Being a writer is a lifelong career. I’ve loved books my whole life, and I started considering writing back in the fourth grade when my teacher noticed my interest in stories and started giving me extra prompts to work on. Almost ten years after that I changed my college major to creative writing. I had … Continue reading 5 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Writing
Inspiration from my Favorite Movies
Writers can find inspiration from anything: books, nature, the people around you. Anything and everything that catches your eye can become a story. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is of course movies. I have trouble sitting down long enough to watch a whole movie and usually spread it out over a couple of … Continue reading Inspiration from my Favorite Movies
Iterating the Writing Process
I’ve been reading Gabriela Pereira’s wonderful book DIY MFA in which she outlines a do-it-yourself alternative to a traditional MFA program. I’ve chosen not to continue with my education with an MFA program. One reason is because of the cost, but I’ve greatly enjoyed pursuing continued education on my own through reading lots of books … Continue reading Iterating the Writing Process
5 Writing Tools I Can’t Live Without
Writing is a craft, and you can’t be any good at a craft without the right tools. These are the five tools I can’t live without. Scrivener I don’t know why I waited so long to get Scrivener. I had heard so many good things about it, and three months ago I finally bought this … Continue reading 5 Writing Tools I Can’t Live Without
Finding Motivation
Being self-employed is hard. Getting to work from home and write is what I’ve always wanted to do, so of course I’m incredibly grateful. But a lot of days it’s difficult to get to work. It’s hard to sit down at the computer every day and write when I don’t often get to see visible … Continue reading Finding Motivation
My Fitness Journey
On July 1st last year, my husband and I had to go get a health screening done for his insurance. I was pretty nervous for the appointment. I’m terrified of doctors and needles. But I think subconsciously I was just terrified what the results would show. And they ended up confirming what I was already … Continue reading My Fitness Journey
Falling in Love with Audiobooks
Back in high school, I hated (almost) everything we were assigned to read. To me, they were all boring books that were written a hundred years ago that had nothing to do with my life. Though I was retaught some of them in college and actually like them now, like The Great Gatsby, I sadly … Continue reading Falling in Love with Audiobooks
The Little Things that Inspire Me
I love my desk. My husband and I never used our kitchen table as an actual table, so, since we live in a small apartment and I didn’t yet have my own space for my writing, I claimed the table as my own. And now that I’ve gotten used to my big table, I don’t … Continue reading The Little Things that Inspire Me
Plotter or Pantser?
Writers tend to fall into one of two categories. The first, “plotters,” are those who plan out everything for their stories ahead of time. They outline, write backstories, and try to figure out the details of the whole story before they write a word. The second category, “pantsers,” are those who write “by the seat … Continue reading Plotter or Pantser?
Bri Marino Creates 