DIY

The DIY Diaries: Welcome!

A publication for your stories of doing all kinds of stuff yourself

Update for 2024: We are still accepting new writers! Please feel free to comment on this post at any time if you’d like to be added.

Thank you for reading the first post from The DIY Diaries, a publication designed as a home for your first-person stories about projects you’ve done yourself.

These projects could include…

• self-publishing your novel, memoir, comic, poetry collection, etc
• gardening in small or big spaces — from growing houseplants to cornfields (and related topics like seed saving, etc)
• everything handmade: zines, paper crafts, jewelry, woodworking, and really anything you love to create
• cooking, baking, dehydrating, food prep and storage, etc
• household projects like decorating, reupholstering, wallpapering, etc
• home and office organizing and cleaning
• learning a skill on your own, such as a language, an art technique, or the process to repair something
• planning an event yourself, from a tea party to a wedding
• running a small business (no moneymaking articles, but we like stories about finding your own path to offer products or services that are meaningful to you)
• and more!

We’re also glad to publish pieces where writers explain how to do useful and/or fun stuff as long as you’re writing about something you’ve done yourself and your description comes with personal examples.

Who are we?

After reading and contributing work to some of the many publications edited by writers here on Medium, I decided to start The DIY Diaries because I enjoy reading and writing about creating things independently, and I thought it would be cool to have a publication built around that specific focus.

I’ve also been writing about my own experiences with making and sharing zines, and I wanted to create more community on Medium for people to discuss their experiences of making and doing things themselves.

As you may know, I love small things. I publish my zines under the name of Teeny Tiny Press. Part of the idea of The DIY Diaries is to celebrate even the smallest things we build and create and improve for ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.

I asked Mandy Zeller to join me in editing this publication as we’ve been friends for many years, and I’ve always appreciated her energy for making art, creating a fun and unique home with her husband, and exploring new hobbies and ideas all the time.

We invite your submissions

Please comment on this post if you’d like to be added as a writer for The DIY Diaries. When you’re ready, we hope you’ll send first-person stories about your projects and experiences.

Send us your stories as a draft by clicking “Add to Publication” in the upper right corner of the page when you’re editing your work. Please include DIY as one of your tags.

I can’t guarantee that we’ll publish everything that’s sent to us. We reserve the right to decline submissions that don’t fit the theme of the publication and so on.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below.

Thanks again, and more soon

We’d love it if you’d follow The DIY Diaries and tell interested friends about it. Please also be sure to check out Mandy’s work as she is new to publishing on Medium, and I think you’ll enjoy following her.

— Amanda