DIY MFA: Weekly Writing Prompt for 9/16/11

Saturday, September 17, 2011

I discovered a wonderful website last week. It's DIY MFA. It lets a writer design their own advanced creative writing program. Since I haven't had the opportunity to pursue an advanced degree in creative writing, I jumped at the chance to participate, and use it alongside the Portable MFA in Creative Writing that I had the good luck to download for free from Amazon a few weeks ago.

No, I won't get a degree. Yes, I will get to improve my writing and knowledge of the craft. So, it's a winner with me.

Our first weekend writing prompt is: The Starting Point


Reading:
1) Do you read regularly? If so, how many books per year, on average?

I usually read at least two books per week, so that would be over 50 books per year.

2) What are your Top 3 preferred subjects or genres?

I mainly read fiction, and my favorite genres are fantasy, horror and paranormal romance. When I do read non-fiction, it's usually something about the craft of writing, meditation, or Buddhism.

3) List the last 5 books/magazines you’ve read.

"The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac, "Switched" and "My Blood Approves" by Amanda Hocking, "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, and "The Bringer" by Samantha Towle. I am usually reading more than one book at a time. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not.

 Writing:
1) How long have you been writing regularly? I've been writing for as long as I can remember, but I've been writing almost daily since 2008.

2) Do you have a project you’re focusing on? Or are you experimenting with various things?

Yes, I'm working on revisions for my first novel. I also have some short stories in progress, but the novel is the main project right now.

3) How often do you write? Is your writing schedule regular or sporadic?

I journal almost everyday, daily for the past week, but I don't work on my fiction everyday. I'm about to the point that I want to reverse that and make working on my novel the priority, and let journaling take a back seat.

Workshop:
1) Do you belong to a writing group or have writer colleagues who read your work?

I don't belong to a writing group, but I wish I did. I have four people who read and/or offer feedback and critique my work.

2) Do you participate in workshops at conferences or other live or online events?

I have participated in The Muse Online Writers Conference since 2008, and I participated in NaNoWriMo in 2008 and 2009, and I will participate in both events again this year.

3) Do you take time to evaluate the feedback and implement what resonates with you into your work? Yes. I always seek feedback to make my work better.

Community:
1) Do you have writer friends?

I have two daughters that blog, but as for fiction writer friends, not really. I wish I did, so I could whine to them about having to scrap the whole first chapter in my novel. They would tell me to shut up, put my big girl writer panties on, and get back to work on my novel by rewriting that first chapter. And we could sit at the same table in the Joe Muggs section of the local Books-A-Million, and write our novels while getting wired on caffeine, and cheer each other on during NaNoWriMo. That would be awesome. Sorry, I desperately crave Fiction Friends. Fantasy over. Moving along...

2) Do you engage with other writers either face-to-face or online?

Mostly online. I did get to meet another local writer, Kelly Kazek, last weekend at Art on the Square in Athens, so that was good.

3) Are you a member of any writing associations? No.

The above questions show where I spend my time in my writing life, and which areas need attention. Currently my time is spent like this:


After seeing this, I'll definitely be making some adjustments. I have a writer friend on Twitter that is willing to critique for me, so we are swapping manuscripts. That means I will be spending more time on writing and critique, and less on community and reading.

I'll still be interacting with other writers, but since I mainly do that on social networks, I will have to cut that down as it is a time suck for me. I created my Facebook Author page this month, so I have spent a good bit of time on Facebook promoting it. The time I spend doing that will be reduced. And since I would like to publish this novel as soon as possible, my time will be spent like this:


This will help me reduce the amount of time on social networks, get my work done on my novel, and get my critiques done. Win all the way around. This chart looks so much more balanced than the first one. I definitely need some balance in my life right now when it comes to my writing.

 And this DIY MFA thing is a win, too. Not only did it give me something to post about, but today I learned how to make a pie chart with Excel. Which will come in handy tracking my book sales in the near future. :)

And now, I'm headed back to work.

2 Friends Said:

Satia September 17, 2011 at 7:04 PM  

You know, I didn't even think about nanowrimo. How odd. Great answers.

Helen H. David September 17, 2011 at 8:59 PM  

Thanks, Satia! So glad you stopped by Sweet Tea. Need a NaNo cheerleader? November isn't that far away! :)

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