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Are you ready to find your creative FLOW?
Most writing programs focus on the craft: those tools and techniques you apply to the words on the page. In the process, the skills necessary for living a creative life often fall by the wayside.
It’s not enough to know all about character development and story structure. We also need to develop a mindset that can sustain our creativity. Our writing skills only help us if we have the life and mindset skills to back them up, and these life skills allow us to flourish—not just as writers but as humans.
Find Your Creative FLOW rounds out your creative toolbox by focusing on the skills you need to live a creative life. At DIY MFA, we want to help you build those writing-life skills, because we know how essential they are for helping you get your words on the page and your stories out into the world.
The world needs your story and somewhere out there is a reader waiting to hold your book in their hands and think: “Wow, it’s like this author read my mind and wrote this just for me.”
Whether you’ve taken every DIY MFA program we’ve ever created or you’ve just started dipping your toe in this community, we are committed to helping you reach your goals. We want to see you not just survive but thrive as a writer, and we believe that adding these mindset skills to your repertoire will be a game-changer for your creative process.
Want to be part of the awesome?
The Framework
Most writing classes emphasize the craft or how-to of writing. Even here at DIY MFA, we often focus on the technical nuts-and-bolts of storytelling and the tools to help you create a compelling story. These tools might be physical objects, like the pen and paper or computer software, as well as more conceptual aspects of the craft, like doing writing prompts, compiling a reading list, or connecting with a community.
The truth is, though, there is much more to the writing life than getting words on the page or improving your skills. The mindset you bring to your work can make or break your progress.
In the past couple of years, Gabriela Pereira (founder and instigator of DIY MFA) began thinking more broadly about mindset and creativity. Drawing from her extensive background in psychology, design, pedagogy and (of course) writing, she developed the Creative FLOW framework.
This framework comprises a suite of tools and techniques designed to help any kind of writer or artist develop a mindset to support their creative endeavors. From fiction to poetry, from music to visual art, or any other creative pursuit, the Creative FLOW framework is for you.
When you apply the Creative FLOW framework,
you can lead a more sustainable and rewarding creative life.
The Program
We’ve structured the program to fit into a 8-week format. You’ll get access to a section of the course every other wee so you can focus on one element of the FLOW framework at a time. Each section features five bite-sized lessons in pre-recorded videos, along with worksheets to help you implement the techniques. Each lesson is a deep dive into a technique from one of the four FLOW pillars.
Additionally you can join your fellow students and and Gabriela on one of four live Zoom calls where you will engage in a discussion, get your questions answered, and (time permitting) do a mini-lesson or hands-on activity designed to help you further absorb the concepts.
By the end of the program, you will have a solid understanding of the FLOW framework and how to use it in your writing. You will also have assembled a creative toolbox with your go-to techniques, so you can live a more rewarding and joyful creative life.
If you’ve been around DIY MFA for any length of time, you know Gabriela loves her acronyms. The letters in FLOW each stand for one of the four main elements of the Creative FLOW framework.
The full-length version of the program covers these four concepts in depth:
Find Your Focus
There’s a reason “write with focus” is one of the three pillars of DIY MFA. Focus allows you to anchor your creativity and without it, you may struggle to Creative FLOW. Techniques include things you can do to develop a sense of focus when embarking on a new creative project or to regain your focus when distractions happen.
Live Your Learning
When we think of learning, we often focus on pragmatic things like acquiring knowledge and mastering skills. Yet, these things are only a small slice of the learning process. In order to grow as writers, we must also become better learners. Creative growth does not occur in a straight trajectory. There is an ebb and flow to this process and, for many of us, that constant state of change can feel uncomfortable. To make progress as learners, we need to get comfortable with that discomfort.
Overcome Your Obstacles
Sooner or later, we all run into obstacles that block our creative progress. Whether you call it writer’s block, The Wall, or a creative crisis, you can’t just “walk it off” or “think positive” to make the problem magically go away. Forget trying to flourish; in these difficult moments all we need to do is survive and get through it.
Work Your Words
As word nerds, we know words have power. The words we choose can affect the way we think and feel, and those thoughts and emotions in turn influence our actions. Not only do we need to take responsibility for our own words, but also for the words we allow to permeate our culture and the words of others we allow into our minds and hearts.