Creative writing/MFA programs for mid career
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Anonymous
| Here is the link for UCLA extension: https://www.uclaextension.edu/writing-journalism/creative-writing |
Anonymous
Sure, Jan. |
Anonymous
| Just audit a workshop at a local university. GMU has a program. |
Anonymous
There is also a hierarchy at Bread Loaf. If you are funded, you are considered a better writer. You might get to attend certain parties. The parties are segregated. One of my friends worked there and part of his job was gently redirecting people to the parties for their “level.” If you are top of the heap, it would be great. I have colleagues who are “in” and even teach there and this is very good for their writing career. If you are a full pay person, people will be nice but they won’t take you seriously and you won’t get the meetings with the agents. Sewanee has a hierarchy but it’s more subtle. I probably wouldn’t spend money on the MFA. Iowa is a studio program or used to be. You don’t have to take random classes. Other programs require lit classes that may or may not be relevant. You could look into low res. My friends of advanced ages have done them and seemed to like them but I’d talk to older graduates (google them and reach out) and see if they were ostracized by other students due to their age or not. |
Anonymous
Why is everyone so down on OP doing this, when she has the $ for it and isn't going in with super unrealistic expectations? I would ABSOLUTELY go get my MFA today if I had the cash lying around. |
Anonymous
People are "down on" it because they have experience with it. I won't call MFAs programs a scam, but they are damn close. OP can do what she wants to do -- work on her writing in a workshop environment -- in better ways. |
Anonymous
I have an MFA that I didn’t have to pay for (fully funded) and I advised op upthread not to do it. If you haven’t been in academia for awhile it’s easy to imagine cozy, stimulating discussions and forget what it’s really like: the credentialusm, the egos, the super PC policing of language/tone, the infighting, the pet students, the drinking and sleeping with each other. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy pieces of my experience but I was in my 20s. It’s not the most efficient way for op to get what she wants. |
Anonymous
But she doesn't want those other ways. She has $ in a 529 to spend. I know people with MFAs who had a good experience. |
Anonymous
I question that "good experience." I mean, I'm sure they think they did. The very worst writer from my MFA program (and she's terrible, and fwiw was over 50 when she entered the program after having been denied admission 3x (why they eventually admitted her I don't know)) goes on and on about what a wonderful experience it was as she vanity publishes book after book that the people we went to school sneer at. For context: I overheard a conversation had by a group of program directors from several low res programs -- and they were discussing the serious ethical problems that come with the boom in MFA programs. Chief one being that large numbers of students who will never be writers, because they don't have any talent, are accepted to and enroll in MFA programs every year ... all full of hope and a willingness to spend on the degree because they don't understand that not only will they never make a cent as a writer, they probably won't even manage to get published in a lit mag that doesn't pay. MFA programs support writers -- but not the ones that enroll in their programs. MFA programs were designed to support the writers employed by the programs to teach. Those writers have books and maybe even acclaim and/or fame, but not a lot of money. A job as a professor gives them the support they need to continue writing and a (somewhat) respected place at the table (see the hierarchy at the AWP conference). Out of my MFA cohort, I'm the only one who has seen any success at all, and if I had to do it over again I would not bother with the MFA. Oh, and I appreciate everyone's suggestion that OP attend Bread Loaf, Sewanee or Tin House, but that might not happen for OP. I've been to 2/3 (and only as a paid contributor), but many of my friends from my MFA cohort have applied to all of them, year after year, and have never been accepted. There are other writers' workshops that are easier to get into, and many are pay-to-play, so OP could do conferences ... and I think they would be a better bet than an MFA program. But OP shouldn't get too excited about the idea of attending the more selective conferences -- the odds aren't good. But, OP, if you want to you can still apply to Sewanee (the BL and TH app deadlines have passed) and see what happens. |
Anonymous
My mid-30s sibling is the middle of a MFA program right now and the petty bullshit she deals with from 20 year olds just sounds exhausting. |
Anonymous
+1. The value my (luckily fully funded) MFA program gave me in my 20s was the realization I did NOT want to pursue writing as a career. |
Anonymous
I think this is the question OP. Do you definitely want to use the 529 funds toward an MFA program. Or do you want to find a writer workshop where you’ll be accepted in your 50s and maybe build some community? I have been in local writer workshops with people who were atrocious writers yet had something they wanted to say… and everyone was supportive. |
Anonymous
+1 PP is spot on. I was also fully funded for my MFA and very glad I did not spend money on that degree. If I was doing it now, I’d pick and choose and not worry about the degree. |
Anonymous
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Take creative writing classes at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda. Do not get the MFA.
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Anonymous
You can’t usually audit these courses. Go to the Writer’s Center in Bethesda |