I'm someone quite far away from the MFA world. (Well, I was an English lit major as well as a psych major. But that's not the same.). So it was intriguing to read about MFA grads' journeys here. A friend was an MFA grad, and we discovered that we had such opposite impressions of writing norms, since they were trained in an MFA setting while I was trained in a genre fiction setting (mostly fantasy and romance). It's interesting to compare notes with folks coming from different backgrounds!
Yes, many MFA programs do welcome "genre" fiction, but the goal is always to infuse the education with literary reading and criticism, so the genre work becomes stronger and deeper. I had students who wrote scifi and romance, and all benefited from the MFA. It's possible to read deeply on one's own, but it's much easier within a rigorous program! Thanks for all your curiosity, Sieran!
Very true! For the friend I mentioned, they said they often felt alone, as their classmates tended to write literary fiction, while they preferred to write genre fiction (e.g. high fantasy queer romance). Despite this difference, they enjoyed their time at their MFA and learned a lot!
Also I just read your Medium post on "How to Construct an MFA Writing Life Without an MFA". Fascinating stuff! I'm a very sociable person, so in past years, I stayed involved with writing buddies, critique partners, and writing groups (mostly on Facebook). In the past couple of years, though, I've been doing paid stuff.
Now I have a fiction book coach who helps me with my novel. And I have some nonfiction writing/ business coaches (not for books but for blogging and social media stuff). While the free approach was very helpful for me, I admit that the paid coaching/ cohorts have an extra seriousness to them. (You could say the financial accountability helps!) I'm lucky that I was able to afford to pay for them, though. Many others can't afford it and have to stick to free groups for now, where not everyone there is that serious and the accountability may be lacking.
Getting an MFA changed my life. I needed to make the commitment to myself that writing was what I wanted to do, and the low-residency model helped me build the habit of integrating my work life and my creative (also work, but different) life that's sustained me to this day (even during early parenthood). My graduate thesis became my first novel (Polska, 1994) and I quickly published a book on writing that I co-authored (Clear Out the Static in Your Attic). I've placed innumerable poems in the years since, and I am currently polishing my second novel now (working title: Naked Driving to the Witches' Graveyard) and still publishing book reviews when I can at islamcketta.com.
Thanks for the shoutout, Aimee!
I'm someone quite far away from the MFA world. (Well, I was an English lit major as well as a psych major. But that's not the same.). So it was intriguing to read about MFA grads' journeys here. A friend was an MFA grad, and we discovered that we had such opposite impressions of writing norms, since they were trained in an MFA setting while I was trained in a genre fiction setting (mostly fantasy and romance). It's interesting to compare notes with folks coming from different backgrounds!
Yes, many MFA programs do welcome "genre" fiction, but the goal is always to infuse the education with literary reading and criticism, so the genre work becomes stronger and deeper. I had students who wrote scifi and romance, and all benefited from the MFA. It's possible to read deeply on one's own, but it's much easier within a rigorous program! Thanks for all your curiosity, Sieran!
Very true! For the friend I mentioned, they said they often felt alone, as their classmates tended to write literary fiction, while they preferred to write genre fiction (e.g. high fantasy queer romance). Despite this difference, they enjoyed their time at their MFA and learned a lot!
Also I just read your Medium post on "How to Construct an MFA Writing Life Without an MFA". Fascinating stuff! I'm a very sociable person, so in past years, I stayed involved with writing buddies, critique partners, and writing groups (mostly on Facebook). In the past couple of years, though, I've been doing paid stuff.
Now I have a fiction book coach who helps me with my novel. And I have some nonfiction writing/ business coaches (not for books but for blogging and social media stuff). While the free approach was very helpful for me, I admit that the paid coaching/ cohorts have an extra seriousness to them. (You could say the financial accountability helps!) I'm lucky that I was able to afford to pay for them, though. Many others can't afford it and have to stick to free groups for now, where not everyone there is that serious and the accountability may be lacking.
Getting an MFA changed my life. I needed to make the commitment to myself that writing was what I wanted to do, and the low-residency model helped me build the habit of integrating my work life and my creative (also work, but different) life that's sustained me to this day (even during early parenthood). My graduate thesis became my first novel (Polska, 1994) and I quickly published a book on writing that I co-authored (Clear Out the Static in Your Attic). I've placed innumerable poems in the years since, and I am currently polishing my second novel now (working title: Naked Driving to the Witches' Graveyard) and still publishing book reviews when I can at islamcketta.com.
Thank you Isla! Next installment 🙏🏼💙