{"id":152,"date":"2011-09-19T19:01:53","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T00:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/?p=152"},"modified":"2011-09-19T19:01:53","modified_gmt":"2011-09-20T00:01:53","slug":"defending-the-mfa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/defending-the-mfa\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending the MFA"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start by stating something that I hope is obvious: No, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need<\/em> an MFA to be a writer. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need <\/em>an MFA to get published.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been fashionable in recent years to bash MFA programs.\u00c2\u00a0 The criticisms are many:<\/p>\n

MFA Programs churn out cookie-cutter writers who all write exactly the same.<\/em><\/p>\n

There may be a modicum of truth to this. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think any program encourages<\/em> this.\u00c2\u00a0 It makes me think of the armed forces, where the first goal when you enlist is to break you down and strip you of your individuality in the belief that you will be more efficient if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just like everyone else. \u00c2\u00a0In an MFA program, you just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem do that.<\/p>\n

MFA Programs are only about literary writing and are useless if you want to write genre or commercial fiction.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that most MFA programs I know focus on literary fiction, mainly in what is assigned as reading.\u00c2\u00a0 And the snobbier programs make no effort to hide their disdain for genre\/commercial fiction. If that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your interest, I recommend doing your homework before signing up for one of those programs. But understand: the building blocks of writing are the same no matter what. If you get fed a diet of literary fiction, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but use that knowledge to write your vampire novel.<\/p>\n

MFA Programs are full of pretentious, turtleneck-wearing snobs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Actually, I think they stopped wearing turtlenecks about 30 years ago. But, yes, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see these people too. While they were in the minority, my program certainly had them.\u00c2\u00a0 They all subscribed to the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mercy is for the weak\u00e2\u20ac\u009d school of critiquing, where close friends were vaunted with praise while anyone not in the clique was vivisected. In many respects, it resembled high school.<\/p>\n

MFA Programs bilk people out of money by imparting knowledge you can get by reading a few books.<\/em><\/p>\n

See, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where I take exception. And I take a lot of exception.\u00c2\u00a0 For a while, the number of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hate MFA\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need an MFA\u00e2\u20ac\u009d blog posts had dwindled but recently I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen a few more crop up. (I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t link to them because, well, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re that curious, do a Google search. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve no desire to send them traffic.) The crux of the argument is, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you really want an MFA, go read these five books on craft, join a critique group, and **poof**, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have your MFA.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem I have with this approach is that it fails to take a very key part of the process into account: the fact that not all people learn the same way. Or at the same speed. Or respond to the same sort of stimuli.\u00c2\u00a0 This approach offers a cure all for a population of writers with very diverse backgrounds and capabilities for learning.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell you what an MFA program did for me. It gave me context.\u00c2\u00a0 It was part reading books on craft and part reading examples of writers doing interesting things and part experimentation. And it was interaction. See, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how schools work. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just throw books at kids and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your education.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Teachers guide and help provide context to what can be an overwhelming sea of information.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I wanted. From years of reading, I knew a lot about writing. It was almost instinctual. But when something didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work for me, I had a hard time articulating why. The MFA program gave me the vocabulary I needed. It helped me identify flaws in my own writing, (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not working, Brian, because your main character isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doing anything!<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) and be precise when providing constructive criticism for others.<\/p>\n

You could give five books on craft to five different writers and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll each walk away with five different ideas of what was said.\u00c2\u00a0 One of them might absorb the information completely and come away a better writer. Someone else, who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t learn well visually, might come away as stupefied as ever. \u00c2\u00a0Not their fault\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they just need some context.<\/p>\n

And, no, having an MFA doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t guarantee you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be a good writer. Just like going to med school doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t guarantee you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be a good doctor. (As the old joke goes, what do you call the guy who finished last in his class at med school? Doctor.) But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m willing to bet that if you go and put in the work, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll learn something that makes you a better<\/em> writer.<\/p>\n

To sum up:<\/p>\n

–You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need an MFA to write or be published.<\/p>\n

–MFA programs can help guide writers who learn at different speeds and with different styles gain a better grasp of craft.<\/p>\n

–Stop slamming MFA programs, you dork.<\/p>\n

–I’ve shared this link before but it’s definitely worth sharing again<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start by stating something that I hope is obvious: No, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need an MFA to be a writer. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need an MFA to get published. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been fashionable in recent years to bash MFA programs.\u00c2\u00a0 The criticisms are many: MFA Programs churn out cookie-cutter writers who all write exactly the same. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}