That’s awesome. The MFA/creative writing degree is such an interesting topic. I got my BA in writing from SF State and then applied for, got accepted into, but ultimately declined the MFA. I was just starting to get fiction published in magazines then (this was around 2012) and I didn’t want to do two more years of school. That said: Some of my closest writing friends did do the MFA and swear it changed their lives writing-wise in positive ways. Whatever works, I say. Life experience, reading, a lot of writing: Yes! MFA? Maybe. That’s my take.
Thanks for reading and for commenting! I appreciate you taking the time. I've had a similar experience, with friends of mine who've been very happy about getting their MFA, and then some that have been kind of like, "Huh. Well. I'm right where I just was."
I don't want to rule it out entirely, because I guess you never know, but I suspect that I won't be going back to college, at least for writing. If it's for a change in my day job, then maybe.
I will participate in non-university workshops and whatnot, though, because workshopping is still great, and the costs associated are better justified. I just don't know if I personally can swallow the cost of university-level writing instruction, especially when the quality of instruction/craft talk outside of a university continues to improve.
If you get into one of the very select programs that'll pay you to get your MFA? Oh, completely different story.
I actually was in line to start a low-res MFA a couple years back... application process went very smoothly, and I'd even applied for and had been granted a scholarship. Which was great. But then I started looking into financial aid more seriously and had a couple discussions with folks on the other side of it, and learned that my day job income was preventing me from getting much, if any at all. So I asked whether or not they took cost of living into account (I live in the very, very, very expensive city of Seattle), and they said they do not. My kiddo was just a few months old and daycare costs were upcoming as well -- something they also didn't take into consideration. Which was shocking to me, given that graduate students (of all programs) are coming in from all different points and positions of life.
So rather than go the route of personal loans and whatnot, I just bailed. Zero regrets about doing so.
But I do hope that at some point in the near future things change so that it is a far more accessible and fruitful path for aspiring writers.
I get it! I think you made the right choice. Funny. I’m reading a biography on George Orwell. He basically did the same thing (minus the kid). Instead he became a military policeman in British Burma.
That’s awesome. The MFA/creative writing degree is such an interesting topic. I got my BA in writing from SF State and then applied for, got accepted into, but ultimately declined the MFA. I was just starting to get fiction published in magazines then (this was around 2012) and I didn’t want to do two more years of school. That said: Some of my closest writing friends did do the MFA and swear it changed their lives writing-wise in positive ways. Whatever works, I say. Life experience, reading, a lot of writing: Yes! MFA? Maybe. That’s my take.
Thanks for the read :)
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Thanks for reading and for commenting! I appreciate you taking the time. I've had a similar experience, with friends of mine who've been very happy about getting their MFA, and then some that have been kind of like, "Huh. Well. I'm right where I just was."
I don't want to rule it out entirely, because I guess you never know, but I suspect that I won't be going back to college, at least for writing. If it's for a change in my day job, then maybe.
I will participate in non-university workshops and whatnot, though, because workshopping is still great, and the costs associated are better justified. I just don't know if I personally can swallow the cost of university-level writing instruction, especially when the quality of instruction/craft talk outside of a university continues to improve.
If you get into one of the very select programs that'll pay you to get your MFA? Oh, completely different story.
I actually was in line to start a low-res MFA a couple years back... application process went very smoothly, and I'd even applied for and had been granted a scholarship. Which was great. But then I started looking into financial aid more seriously and had a couple discussions with folks on the other side of it, and learned that my day job income was preventing me from getting much, if any at all. So I asked whether or not they took cost of living into account (I live in the very, very, very expensive city of Seattle), and they said they do not. My kiddo was just a few months old and daycare costs were upcoming as well -- something they also didn't take into consideration. Which was shocking to me, given that graduate students (of all programs) are coming in from all different points and positions of life.
So rather than go the route of personal loans and whatnot, I just bailed. Zero regrets about doing so.
But I do hope that at some point in the near future things change so that it is a far more accessible and fruitful path for aspiring writers.
I get it! I think you made the right choice. Funny. I’m reading a biography on George Orwell. He basically did the same thing (minus the kid). Instead he became a military policeman in British Burma.
Haha perhaps that's the path I too should merge upon!