Course Catalog

Today we unveil the DIY MFA course offerings for September 2010!  I've planned it out so that each day we have a different topic.  That way, if only a couple of topics interest you, you can check back on those days specifically.  As you will note, there is nothing scheduled for Fridays.  That's because Friday will be our Week-In-Review day, when I'll post highlights from the past week in case anyone needs to catch up.  But enough chit-chat... here are the classes. 

Love of Literature
Mondays
I'm betting that if you're doing this DIY MFA, you're pretty big into reading and books.  I'm guessing you have piles of books hiding under your couch, or in the laundry hamper (while your laundry's on the floor), or even in your freezer.  Who uses a freezer?  It's just this big yummy box that will keep your books all minty-fresh.  But I digress.  The thing is, doing all this reading willy-nilly doesn't always serve us writers best.  In Love of Literature we'll talk about reading with a purpose and making the most of our reading time so that we have time for other fun things, like going to the zoo and petting the sheepies.

Creative Community
Tuesdays
Think of this as a field-study class, where you get to go out into different realms of the writing world.  It'll be like one big scavenger hunting party.  The object of the game is to search out and custom-design your own unique writing community by cobbling together online networks, professional associations, conferences and other fun writerly events.

Craft-ivity
Wednesdays
This one is all about craftsy goodness.  No, we're not talking about arts and crafts (oooh, but my knitty fingers so wish we were).  We're talking about that wonderfully exciting kind of craft that's all about writing and creativity.  I know it's crazy to try to cover writing craft in just a handful of weeks, so Craft-ivity will focus just on two basic elements of prose (character and plot) and two basic elements of verse.  I will most likely be enlisting help from a verse specialist so don't be surprised if we have a guest post or two.

Working the Workshop
Thurdays
No DIY MFA would be complete without a workshop component.  Having been in dozens of workshops myself, I'll share with you some tips like: finding or forming a good critique group, the Dos and Don'ts of giving and taking critique, and of course the ever-important question: I got my critiques... now what?

Brain Bootcamp
Saturdays & Sundays
This super-intensive approach to creativity will be all about drawing outside the lines, breaking down mental blocks and living the creative life.  Think of this class as a weekend-length creative kick in the backside.