oh no oh fuck no. Your comment about learning what Borgesian craft manuals can't teach you was painfully on point. I was literally just working through a Borges "total library"
I appreciate the perspective as someone who has only recently found myself voicing some of my kinda-unformed literally aspirations.
Well, I think reading a ton about craft probably can't hurt you! In my experience--and according to older and wiser and more accomplished writers--doing a TON of writing and accepting that a lot of it will ultimately be thrown out is probably the most important thing. If you do decide you want to do an MFA, then every bit of writing you have under your belt before you arrive will make you that much better prepared to get the most out of the experience. So good luck wherever this journey takes you
The first two panels would standalone because they had to, if I remember right—a lot of papers would cut them for space. It was a big part of Watterson’s endless disputes with Universal.
This might be too cynical, but how much of the value of an MFA do you think is just having the time and space to focus on writing? In other words, would an MFA be less valuable if we had a French workweek, or if you could quit your job without losing your health insurance?
Thanks for the tip about the Sunday strips. I'll have to revisit his annotations sometime and talk about those...
I do think "time to write" is one of the best arguments for getting an MFA, yes. But I had plenty of time to write before I started here, since I was able to live cheaply and work part-time jobs that had a good hourly rate. And I did write a tremendous amount, which was for the best. Most experienced grad-level instructors I've known would say it's best for writers to spend at least a few post-college years writing heavily out in the wilds before coming back to the shelter of the university. Doing so makes everything that happens in an MFA that much more focused, since you already have a sense of the kind of work you want to do, of your own voice and sensibilities, etc.
Also the community aspect can't be understated. I always shied away from communities of writers before now, but wow, it's been quite a revelation. My classmates are talented people, and people I learn from and very much enjoy spending time with. Not everyone is so fortunate maybe, but at its best, this kind of community is a very special thing.
I got through my entire MFA program without reading Middlemarch but it is on my list of Books to Read Someday. Great piece about your MFA program at UM. I sometimes left my fiction workshops at Colorado State pissed off at everyone in the group, wondering why I ever left a lucrative yet numbing corporate career to have people pick over my work like a flock of buzzards. Other nights, I left quite pleased with my work. I always left with something to work on and did because I had the time and inclination to do so. That's the thing, to be in a community of writers, working on my stuff, discussing reading and writing. That's what I thought about every time I was tempted to quit. I still think about that and the critiques, good and bad, that I received from my fellow students and faculty. They still help my writing 30 years later. One regret: not knowing about the Shower Curtain Solution. I spent perfectly good grad school stipend money on those plastic clips at Target. I could have used it to buy burgers and fries for the family. Who knew?
These feelings are all familiar to me, and it's always nice to hear them confirmed by others. It's kinda wild--and definitely great--how far off-kilter a good workshop can knock your sense of your own work. And yeah: Clothes hangers can do a lot besides hang clothes, it turns out
oh no oh fuck no. Your comment about learning what Borgesian craft manuals can't teach you was painfully on point. I was literally just working through a Borges "total library"
I appreciate the perspective as someone who has only recently found myself voicing some of my kinda-unformed literally aspirations.
Well, I think reading a ton about craft probably can't hurt you! In my experience--and according to older and wiser and more accomplished writers--doing a TON of writing and accepting that a lot of it will ultimately be thrown out is probably the most important thing. If you do decide you want to do an MFA, then every bit of writing you have under your belt before you arrive will make you that much better prepared to get the most out of the experience. So good luck wherever this journey takes you
The first two panels would standalone because they had to, if I remember right—a lot of papers would cut them for space. It was a big part of Watterson’s endless disputes with Universal.
This might be too cynical, but how much of the value of an MFA do you think is just having the time and space to focus on writing? In other words, would an MFA be less valuable if we had a French workweek, or if you could quit your job without losing your health insurance?
Thanks for the tip about the Sunday strips. I'll have to revisit his annotations sometime and talk about those...
I do think "time to write" is one of the best arguments for getting an MFA, yes. But I had plenty of time to write before I started here, since I was able to live cheaply and work part-time jobs that had a good hourly rate. And I did write a tremendous amount, which was for the best. Most experienced grad-level instructors I've known would say it's best for writers to spend at least a few post-college years writing heavily out in the wilds before coming back to the shelter of the university. Doing so makes everything that happens in an MFA that much more focused, since you already have a sense of the kind of work you want to do, of your own voice and sensibilities, etc.
Also the community aspect can't be understated. I always shied away from communities of writers before now, but wow, it's been quite a revelation. My classmates are talented people, and people I learn from and very much enjoy spending time with. Not everyone is so fortunate maybe, but at its best, this kind of community is a very special thing.
I got through my entire MFA program without reading Middlemarch but it is on my list of Books to Read Someday. Great piece about your MFA program at UM. I sometimes left my fiction workshops at Colorado State pissed off at everyone in the group, wondering why I ever left a lucrative yet numbing corporate career to have people pick over my work like a flock of buzzards. Other nights, I left quite pleased with my work. I always left with something to work on and did because I had the time and inclination to do so. That's the thing, to be in a community of writers, working on my stuff, discussing reading and writing. That's what I thought about every time I was tempted to quit. I still think about that and the critiques, good and bad, that I received from my fellow students and faculty. They still help my writing 30 years later. One regret: not knowing about the Shower Curtain Solution. I spent perfectly good grad school stipend money on those plastic clips at Target. I could have used it to buy burgers and fries for the family. Who knew?
These feelings are all familiar to me, and it's always nice to hear them confirmed by others. It's kinda wild--and definitely great--how far off-kilter a good workshop can knock your sense of your own work. And yeah: Clothes hangers can do a lot besides hang clothes, it turns out